4 Ninjabots and Autoturtles
by selfless1978
Summary: Seems like sometimes even the big guys need smaller backup of the stealthy kind. Now this is going to be interesting to see how Autobots deal with Ninja Turtles. Takes place about 2 1/2 years after my story "New Realities"
1. Chapter 1

***Author's note: Ok, I know I have a later placed story already in the works, but this one finally clicked inside my head and wanted out. I get like that sometimes (shrugs). For right now Future Realities is on hold until this one is done. Just so I don't mess up events in the later story's timeline. As usual I don't own anything here except my own creations. For all you transformer's fans who haven't followed my previous turtle stories, PM me and I'll give you the quick run down if you're not interested in sitting through 2 stories for some of what is written here to make sense (and if you haven't followed my Realities stories, a lot of this won't).**

There was a storm coming. And by the looks of it a bad one. Sally let her gaze linger out the bus window as she settled into her seat. The clouds moving in across the horizon were dark and angry, lighting flashing as if Zeus himself was pissed off at the world. The winds that were starting to pick up was enough to give the bus driver problems as they hit the side of the large vehicle with enough force to make it swerve as it's eerie howl passed over the rounded top.

It wouldn't be long now before the rain came. Such a rare sight to see storms like this in a part of the country that was most famous for being a desert, but it seems Mother nature has her quirks also and decided that midstate Nevada needed a monster storm tonight. And that would be the night Sally would be out on the roads, in this oversized lighting rod on wheels.

Her destination was now only a couple of hours away, at most, and it seemed like this storm would slow the trip a little. Not even a hardened bus driver would dare try to stay on the roads with these kinds of conditions. This was the kind of winds that knocked semis over on a regular basis.

Idly she wondered why her cousin had to live out in this deserted strip of a dustbowl as the lighting once again flashed across her face. Couldn't they have stationed him somewhere else? Once again she wondered exactly what it was he did, but then, she couldn't talk either. He wasn't the only one who had a secret job, and oddly enough, it was a night much like tonight that had set her own life events down this path.

A strange encounter when she was a child had altered her view on things that could exist. One that to this day still filled her with curiosity. On a dark stormy night, much like this, a frightened ten year old girl had run away from her foster home. She had heard...things...from the other foster children in the home. Things that had her more than a little scared. Didn't really help her already frightening situation any.

Suddenly she had found herself alone in the world, her mother taken from her by cancer just weeks before. She didn't even know her father really, he had been taken from her at the age of three by an unfortunate work accident. Not having any other place to really put her at the time, she had been placed into the system. She had an uncle that tried desperately to get her out of it, but the endless mounds of paperwork and his own rough past hampered those efforts.

It didn't take long for the first warnings to be uttered to her in hushed whispers in various quiet corners of the house. "Don't let Dan come into your room at night." She had asked why, numerous times, but no one would really answer her. Sally found out on her own one late night as he came barging into her room, more than a little drunk. At first the confused girl didn't know what he wanted, but she didn't like the way he looked at her.

He had quickly, and stumbling, made his way to her, pinning her down on the bed with his body and held a hand over her mouth as he fumbled with her underwear with his other hand. She remembered being so scared, so helpless. What on earth could a ten year old girl do against a grown ass man? She fought the best she could, but he had just laughed at her, his foul, drunken breath washing over her face as the first cracks of thunder roared overhead.

It was the simple nightstand lamp that had saved her that night as she desperately had grabbed it and hit him on the head with it. He had pulled back in a rage raising a hand to punch her, when he fell over and promptly began to snore.

Shaking now in fear, she wasn't sure if it was her blow, or his drinking that knocked him out. Maybe a combination of the two. But she wasn't going to stay and find out. Quickly she put the warmest clothes she had on, gathered a few precious things, then had fled out of the apartment after slinging her bag around her torso.

The rain was now coming down, a thick sheet of water that seemed to pour endlessly from the sky accompanied by the just as seemingly endless flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder. She ran through the sheer fury of the storm to the only place she knew to hide in this area. Towards an old sewer access tunnel, something she had stumbled on by pure accident a few days earlier. Now it was the only safe haven she could think of.

She had wandered for she didn't know how long in those long, damp, dark tunnels. Not knowing where she was trying to go, but refusing to go back. She pushed herself on further and soon the sound of water reached her ears, rushing water that had apparently found it's way down here from the streets above. The tunnel she was following intersected with this underwater river, but she refused to let that stop her as she looked for a way across. Spotting a pipe not far away, with the help of a dim street light coming through a street runoff. Dim because the massive flow of water coming in from that drain diluted the light as it tried to come in, but it was enough for her to find the pipe, and crawl on top of it.

Sally was about halfway across when the true dangers of these tunnels made itself known. A large wall of water made it's way around the bed, unseen to her in the darkness, and slammed into her with more than enough force to knock her off of her precarious perch.

Now the girl found herself struggling in the water, burdened down by her heavy clothes and her bag, she cried out in fear as she struggled to find something to grab onto, and was rewarded with nothing for her efforts. She was so scared, she just wanted her mother, her uncle, someone. She didn't want to be here.

She was about to go under from exhaustion, unable to fight the swift current anymore when there was a splash in the water not far from her. She swung her head around but could make nothing out in the dark tunnel. She was wondering if there was even anything there to look at when she felt strong arms wrap around her from behind, pulling her close to a firm body. "I gotcha, kiddo." A male voice told her as he adjusted his grip on her. To tired to do anything she just held onto the arm he had her secured with. "I sure hope they are ready with that rope or we might be swimming for a while."

"Mikey! Raise your arm." Another voice called out. "Raph and Leo got the rope set for you and your coming up on it fast!"

The man holding her complied, still holding her close against him he reached up with his other arm and they came to a halt with a sudden jerk in the fast moving water.

"Good lord, Mikey! You seriously need to lay off of the damn pizzas!" Came a voice from the left.

"I think it's more the rock he has for a brain." Grumbled one from the right.

"Wrap your arms around my neck." The one holding her said. Sally just shook her head in fear. She didn't want to lose her grip and get swept away again. "What's your name?"

"S-sally. Sally Lennox." She stuttered out, fear and cold taking a hold of her.

"Sally? That's a pretty name. Listen Sally, I need you to hold onto me so I can use both hands to get us out of here."

"Hurry up Mikey!" The grumbly voice snapped. "Any moment now there could be debris flushing down that tunnel!"

Sally couldn't help but shiver more at the sound of that obviously not happy voice. "Ignore him. He's just a big grumpy bear. Please Sally, I need you to wrap your arms around my neck."

"I can't!" She had wailed in fear.

There was a slight tug on the rope and another splash and a few moments later another set of arms was there. "Sally was it?" The voice from the left asked gently and she nodded. "Sally, I'm going to tie you to Mikey here, ok?" She just nodded again, not able to do anything else. She then felt him swiftly but securely wrap a rope around her and...Mikey was it? He seemed to move very quickly, but confidently as the ropes tightened around her. "Ok, that should do it. Go Mikey, I'm right behind you."

Mikey let his hold of her go and she screamed a little, scared she would be swept off again, but it held. He began to pull himself, hand over hand, across the rope until they reached the edge and another set of hands pulled him up out of the water.

She then found herslef on the floor of another tunnel, still tied to the man who had just pulled her out. "You ok?" The gentle voice asked her as she began to feel the ropes being undone.

"Y-y-y-es." She replied through chattering teeth.

"Leo, we need to get her warmed up. That water was to cold for her."

"It wasn't exactly warm for me either." Mikey mumbled. "Thanks for asking."

"Oh hush," The gentle voice told him. Then she felt herself being lifted up once again held close to a hard body. It felt weird against her, almost as if he was wearing some kind of hard armour, but his arms were normal, lots of muscles, but normal.

"What do we do now with her, Leo?" The grumpy one asked from behind her. How did he make it over here? She didn't hear him in the water. "And what the hell is she doing down here anyway?"

"We are going to get her warmed up, put in dry clothes and get her back home. That's what Raph." The one carrying her replied.

"No!" She began to cry and struggle. "No, please don't send me back!"

"Oh brother." Raph grumbled. "Where are we supposed to take you? You can't stay down here!"

"Please!" She wailed again.

"Easy, Sally." The one called Leo tried to calm her down but she wasn't listening as she struggled in those iron arms. Finally he just stopped and knelt down and held her close to him so she wouldn't fall. To tired to fight anymore anyway, she began to cry.

"Anyone else getting the feeling she really doesn't want to go back?"

"What was your first clue Donnie? The screaming or the crying?"

"Actually the fact that she was down here in the first place Mikey."

"Oh."

Leo ignored them as he held her close to him. "Sally, why don't you want to go back?" He asked her in that same gentle tone. She remained quiet as she shivered against him. Not sure if she should talk to him. "It's ok, you can tell me." Something about him, them, made her open up and after a few quiet moments of them waiting quietly she told them what had happened earlier.

"I see." Leo said, this time with steel in his voice.

"I just want to go live with my uncle." She whispered into his chest. "I don't want to go back there."

"And you won't." Raph grumbled, anger in his own voice.

"Sally, what's your Uncle's name?" Donnie asked her.

"John. John Lennox. He lives in Portland Oregon."

"To far for us to take her." Mikey said.

"Won't need to." Donnie replied. "I'll deal with it, right now we need to get her out of those clothes and into something dry."

Leo had once again picked her up and was carrying her through the tunnels. By now she was so tired and overwhelmed by the night's events she started to doze off in his arms. Not once had she caught a glimpse of any of them, until a very faint light shone quickly through another vent. Half asleep already her mind struggled to piece together the strange shadows that were her saviors, but could not. All she could tell was that they were large, and different. She caught a quick glimpse of the green, three fingered hand holding her up, then she was asleep.

How long she was out like that she really didn't know, but when she woke up she was in warm, dry clothes, laying on a bench at the bus station. She blinked a few times in confusion before she noticed the papers she held in her hand. She slowly sat up and looked at them, more than a little confused. It was a bus ticket, to Oregon. Her mouth dropped open in amazement as she opened the small folded paper that was attached to it with a paperclip.

_'Sally,_

_You are going to your Uncle. He knows you are coming and all documents making his guardianship legal will arrive at his house in a few days. And don't worry about your now former foster father. He is in no shape to come after you right now. We personally made sure of that. Take care, little one, and be safe.'_

Sally began to cry again, with joy this time and she was thrilled when the bus pulled up. Not quite believing her luck, she looked around one more time. Hoping against hope to see them, then she did. On a rooftop a few buildings down she caught sight of four figures outlined against the evening sky. She knew it was them without knowing how she knew and smiled. She gave them a wave, which the smallest one returned, before she boarded the bus. By the time she had found a seat and looked back to the spot, they were gone.

Her Uncle had met her at her final stop after the long bus ride, just as grateful to have her as she was to be there. He couldn't explain why the paperwork had suddenly been approved but none of them questioned it. He and her aunt, and her cousin Will, had all welcomed her with open arms and her life was filled with love again. But she had never forgotten those strangers in the tunnel, nor the quick glimpse she got of that green hand.

She knew there was something strange about them, but never really got a good look at them. Either way she owed them more than a little. She had tried to find them again on the rare occasions she went back to the city, but never could.

Will had grown up and had chosen military as his life's calling, Sally went a different route. She went CIA and managed to get into a section that required utmost secrecy. She had hoped to maybe find something on her unknown friends, but not even these guys knew of their existence. Others however were starting to cause some concern and it was with this info she had gathered on her last mission that she had been sent to this backwater base in Nevada, coincidentally where her cousin was stationed. She chose the bus route because it was the only real alternative she had at the spur of the moment orders, and she liked them a heck of a lot better than planes.

Still looking out the window she smiled at the thought of seeing him again, it had been awhile. She just had a moment to wonder if she would be able to spend a few days with him before she noticed a jet approaching, fast. Her eyes grew wide as she realized that it wasn't going to slow down, and was coming straight towards them.

An instant later the whole bus shook as something smashed into it, sending more than a few riders flying across the inside. Those not being flung about were trying to dodge the breaking glass that seemed to suddenly be everywhere as one side of the bus caved inward.

Then the next thing she felt was a strange lurching feeling, accompanied with the sensation of her stomach dropping. She picked herself up from the isle where she had fallen and scrambled over damaged seats to get to the nearest window, trying not to step on the now panic stricken and screaming folks. She looked out in stunned disbelief as the bus was still rising off of the ground. Something was lifting the whole damn thing up! She looked around through the broke window, trying to make sense of what was happening, and saw only two sets of red dots in the darkness. She knew what they were, and knew that the bus, and everyone in it, was in serious trouble.

.

.

Epps knew Lennox had found out by the way the door slammed open to the control room, and his usual calm, slightly humored normal self was spewing out curses like Hide does ammo. "Well this is going to be a fun day." He mumbled as his commanding officer, and friend, stormed up to the panel.

"Where is it!" He almost screamed, not asking anyone in particular.

"Calm yourself, Major." Prime's deep voice rumbled from overhead. Even standing on this platform the Autobot leader still towered above him. "We are searching for it now."

"Somebody better do more than search for it and find that damn bus!"

"Dude, can you knock him out or something?" Epps mumbled to Ironhide who was standing next to him. He leaned against the rail of the platform that separated the human sector from the bot one and crossed his arms.

"Would not be advisable. You know, squishy heads and all." The black robot replied.

Despite the grim situation, Epps let out a quick snort of laughter, and immediately regretted it when Will turned on him, his face red with anger.

Epps quickly wiped the smile off of his face and Will turned back to the console, almost seemed like he wanted to sit on Jazz's shoulder as the small bot worked. Not that it would do any good.

**-Hey Jazz!-** Came over the speakers suddenly. Epps perked his ears up at the voice. It was Sideswipe, he and Sunstreaker had gone out with Bumblebee to scout out the location of where the bus disappeared. **-I think we got something here.-**

"Would ya mind tellin' meh what?" Jazz answered not looking up.

**-Cons left a trail, believe it or not. Must have punctured a fuel line or something. We are following the trail to the north.-**

"Which means Bee is following it and those two are racing." Epps said quietly, Hide remained quiet, but did nod once in agreement.

Prime moved closer to jazz and spoke into the comm himself. "Proceed with caution, Sideswipe. Do not engage at this time, not until we find the humans."

There was a sigh of frustration that came over the line. **-Not even a small fight?-**

"Sideswipe you will do as you are told!" Hide snapped. "Or I will personally make sure Ratchet will spend the next week putting you back together!"

**-Fine...we'll leave them be, but this whole thing just got a lot less fun.-**

Will's face was a very interesting shade of red by now as he listened to the conversation. "Fun! You think this is fun!? You aren't out there to have fun! You're out there to find that damn bus!"

**-Oh, someone finally told him... Didn't think he'd be there.-**

**-Idiot-** Came from Sunstreaker.

"That's half tha problem right there." Jazz mumbled. "Them glitches neva think."

They waited quietly after that as Jazz tracked the three moving Autobots. Mainly because Will was not in the mood to talk as he watched the blips move across the screen and no one else wanted to piss him off more. Suddenly Jazz let out a shocked exclamation and all heads turned to him.

"What is it Jazz?" Prime asked him.

"Gettin' a comm link request...from the Cons."

"What!" Ironhide roared as Prime and Jazz exchanged shocked glances. Well this was a first. "They didn't find us did they?"

"Nah, sendin' it over a broadband frequency. Prolly hopin' one of us would pick it up."

Prime's eyes narrowed. "Secure the line, then connect us."

The room was deathly quiet as Jazz worked, then he nodded to Prime that the line was now open.

**-Greetings, old friend.-** Came a malicious voice over the speakers.

"Megatron." Prime answered in that grave tone of his.

**-Indeed. I would advise you to pull your watchdogs in, if you value these humans.-** Jazz quickly spun back around and began working on the terminal again. Epps thought he knew what he was up too, if the cons could see the three bots out there, and comm here about it, then they had to be close. **-I would hate for them to have any unfortunate ...accidents... during a rescue attempt.-**

"Megatron, you go too far. Let them go."

**-I don't think I've gone far enough. Keep your Autobots out of this sector, or it will begin raining human corpses.-**

"Call them back." Prime told Jazz softly.

"What!" Will exploded. "We can't just...let them keep them!"

"To go in with force would only put them at a greater risk of being harmed, and I can not allow that. Call them back."

**-Pleasure doing buisness with you, Prime.- **Then the connection was cut.

"Ah got a lock on where tha signal came from, Boss Bot."

"Yeah, but how do we get to them?" Epps asked. "Knowing where they are won't do us any good if we can't get to them."

"Indeed, to retrieve the humans by force will not work."

**-Sneak Jazz in.-** Sides came over the comm. **-He's good at that.-**

"Ahm 'fraid not." Jazz replied. "Ah don't think Ah can get in. To exposed out there."

**-Losing your edge Jazz? Better watch it, your sex appeal might be next.-**

"Ahm still better than you." Came the quick retort.

Ironhide had been unusually quiet during the exchange, normally he be yelling at them both to shut the hell up by now. Epps was kinda expecting actually. It looked like Will was going to do it for him when the weapons specialist spoke up, with a thoughtful tone in his voice, effectively cutting off Will's outburst. "I think I might know who can."

Now everyone was quiet as they all turned to him. Suddenly Bee was chattering excitedly over the comm, as if he knew what Hide was getting at.

Epps was giving him a weird look. "Hide, how would you know anyone outside of us who could help? You been keeping secrets?"

"This wouldnta have somthin' to do with your...disappearin' act a couple of years ago. Would it?" Jazz asked him shrewdly.

"Maybe." He replied as he looked up to Prime.

Something seemed to pass between the two of them, before the larger bot just nodded slightly. "Do it."

Ironhide was on the move out the door before he finished giving the order. "Lennox, Epps...I'll need you to pack whatever you need for a few days and meet Ironhide and I in the hanger when you have finished."

"What? Why? Where are we going?" Epps was more than a little confused now, and Lennox wasn't looking much better.

"New York City."


	2. Chapter 2

You ever had one of those days where you wished you could just clobber everyone in the head for some peace and quiet? Yeah...I was having one of those days.

"Mommy! Thane took my toy!"

"NO! MINE!"

"Is not! It's mine!"

"Mikeeeeey! How many times do I have to tell your dumbass to throw your daughter's diapers outside in the garbage!"

"Maybe I will when it isn't so far away."

"Maybe I'll just shove a foot up your ass and help you get there easier!"

"You watch your damn mouth around the kids!"

"Did I ask you?"

"Didn't have too. Thane! Give that back to Ty!"

"MINE! Mine mine mine mine MINE!"

"Donnie! Why is Dante playing with your old computer?"

"Figured I'd start him early."

"He's trying to take it apart! And he's not even 2 yet!"

"Smart kid."

"Choking hazard you idiot!"

"Lavi, honey, please don't climb all over those clothes, I just got done folding-" (thump of a tipped over clothes basket, accompanined by a giggling child) "them..."

"Mommy I need help with my homework."

"No! Me first! I need help too!"

And on top of all of that Ari was fighting an ear infection and screaming her head off. To say I was getting a headache was an understatement.

Suddenly there was a loud whistle in the lair that stunned everyone into silence and we all turned to look at Leo who had just come out of the dojo. "Good lord. You all make more racket then a soccer stadium full of hooligans!" He snapped, obviously feeling my pain, in more ways than one. "Keep this up and we are going to have to sound proof the walls and ceiling so the people above don't hear you!"

He walked further into the, now quiet, living area, glareing around as he did, and came to where I was sitting, struggling to help Dennis and Amy with their homework...at the same time. "Dennis, you go sit over there and work on your math homework, you're good at that, and I'll help with the rest in a minute. Amy you sit here. And you," He turned his gaze to me "go lay down, your head is killing me."

"But I still-"

"Now!" He cut me off. Well, no use trying to argue over it. I'd just piss him off more. Sighing I got up and walked to Leo's room, it was closer than going through the portal to mine, and collapsed on the bed.

This room wouldn't be available for this much longer, we were already talking about giving it up for one of the twins, along with plans to expand the whole complex out a bit. It was just getting to cramped in here for four differnt families combined into one. Probably one of the reasons why all the commotion was starting to get to me, I had nowhere really to go without bumping into someone.

It took me awhile, but my headache was finally starting to die down when Leo walked into the room, closing the door behind him. "Sorry about earlier. But between their noise and your pain, I almost stabbed myself with my katana."

I smiled slightly at his obvious over exaggereation. "You did not."

He returned my smile. "Ok, I didn't. You caught me." He sat on the edge of the bed next to me. "Head is feeling better I'm noticing."

"It's getting there."

He got that look in his eye as he watched me a moment. "Maybe I can help it the rest of the way." He said before he leaned in to kiss me.

Never, never does this feeling of having him so close cease to fill me with desire. Even after the years we have already spent together, I always feel like some kind of giddy school girl when all of his attention is on me and I returned his kiss with my own passion filled hunger.

I shivered uncontrolably for a moment as his fingertips gently slid over my body, before slipping under my shirt, softly making their way to my breast. He ran a gentle thumb over the fabric of my bra, but even that soft touch made a moan come to my lips and I pulled him even closer to me.

His lips had by now wanderd to my neck, as usual, he loved to nibble my neck and I loved to let him. By now both of our breathing was starting to quicken and his hand was starting to wander down even as he softly nibbled on my now very sensitive skin.

"Hey Le...ooooooh!" Came from by the door.

Leo just dropped his head against my shoulder. "Why me..." He mumbled and I laughed before he turned to face the intruder. "Damn it, Mikey!" He was not pleased with his little brother...

"Well you should have closed the door!"

"It was closed!'

"Oh, yeah, well...Donnie wants to see you."

"This had better be good." Leo mumbled as he got back up.

Laughing quietly I got up myself, intending to follow him to see what was so important for him to send Mikey into dangerous territory. It wouldn't be the first time the yougest of the four brothers had walked in on somehing like that, though he was more prone to do it to Raph and Cris, and usually got a beating from both of them for it.

I stopped however when I caught sight of the television, Caitlin had the news on and this particular topic interested me. I stepped closer, drowning out the babble around me as I listened. "And there is still no word today on what happened to the missing bus that disappeared in the late evening hours yesterday. Authorities in Nevada are still conducting their investigation as worried family members are gathering..." I kind of let the rest drown out. Nothing new going on here. Still, it was unusual enough of an occurance to keep my intrest in it. Not everyday a bus full of folks just ups and disappears. All I could do was wonder as the images of scared family members flashed across the screens.

"Vicky?" Leo called me, turning my attention from the TV. "Come here for a minute." He looked kind of spooked and I was more than a little curious as I walked into the lab.

Donnie was also looking at me kind of funny as I walked up. "What? Leo leave a hicky on me or something?"

Blushing Donnie just shook his head slightly before turning my attention to his computer screen. "There is something here, for you."

"Me? Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure, considering who ever sent it was specifically looking for my system, then hacked it to get in to send it."

Now that was an impressive feat. I don't think that's ever happened before. I stepped closer to the computer and leaned in. There was something there alright, a white block with a V on it. "Ok, so...what am I exactly supposed to do with this?"

"Open it, I guess."

"You guess? What if it blows up?"

Donnie just rolled his eyes. "It won't blow up. To be honest I tried to open it already, but I can't. Some kind of coding I've never seen before. I'm sure I could, but it would take awhile. It appears to be safe enough, considering how well the sender tried to hide it."

"What makes you think I can open it."

He just shrugged. "Call it a hunch. I mean it_ does_ have a V on it, it's pretty obvious it's for you."

"If this thing fries your computer, don't gripe to me about it." I mumbled as I moved the mouse over, and clicked on it and another screen popped up. With a simple question displayed on it. 'How do you train a green pet who isn't housebroken?' I just stared at the screen a moment, with my eyes wide. I knew the answer to that right away, and only one being I knew could have the knowledge to send that specific question.

"Yeah, this is where I'm stumped." Donnie admitted. "There are so many ways to train an animal that has that issue, the odds of finding the one-"

He broke off as I pushed him out of the way to get to the keyboard. I could feel more than see them exchage quick glances before they watched me type in 'Thumping it on the nose.' I could hear Donnie's jaw drop as again the screen changed.

_'Vicky,_

_Need to talk, bring your freinds and come to the warehouse on the north side of the docks that is the color of motormouth's headband. Normal ones may walk in, abnormal ones may wish to find another way, but are welcome.'_

"What in the name of..." Donnie whispered as he too read over the message. Then looked at me with wide eyes. "Am I missing something? Seems awefully cryptic."

"Donnie, you have no idea." I told him softly as I again read it over. "Seems like some old friends are in town."

"Who?" Leo asked, a little frustrated and confused himself over it, lord he was dense today. Maybe Mikey walking in when he did blocked the thought from getting into his head because his hormones were in the way.

I looked at him, with a slight grin, and I reached out and flicked him on the nose. "When's the last time I did that?" I asked his stunned expression.

That snapped him out of his stupor as his own eyes grew wide in relazation. "Donnie, get your stuff together."

"What? Why? Are we going out?"

"Just as soon as it gets dark, yes." Leo replied before he went to go round up the others.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Donnie almost whined.

"And ruin the surprise? I don't think so." I grinned at him.

.

.

A few hours later Cris, Marina and I walked up to the ware house in question. I felt kinda bad leaving Caitlin behind with all of the kids, but on a good note most of them were sleeping already. Still, it was unusual for us to just leave her alone with them, we tended to take turns staying home with her if we had to go out. This seemed serious enough for her to assure us she would be fine for a couple of hours, even shooed us all out the door.

"You sure this is the place?" Cris mumbled as we came upon the seemingly abandoned warehouse. "Place is creepy."

"It's the only orange warehouse out here." I replied calmly.

"But what makes you so sure it was meant to be the orange one?"

I gave her an amused grin. "You know any other turtle with a mouth as quick as Mikey's?"

She just grunted. "Good point."

We walked closer, close enough now to make out the run down appearance and peeling orange paint. "Not the place I would have picked for a meeting." Marina mumbled as we approached the main doors."

"I'm sure there are reasons." I replied, but I was also eyeballing the place, more than a little leery myself.

"If this is some kind of trap, I'm going beat the snot out of you." Cris grumped to me.

"I'd like to see you try." We had reached the door and I tried the handle. "Locked."

"Anyone else getting nervous?" Cris asked as her hanbo came out.

"Not really." Marina replied. "Maybe they just forgot to unlock the door."

"That's nice." Cris said sarcastically. "But how do we get in?"

Marina and I just looked at each other and shrugged, then we both spun and nailed it and it flew open with a crash. "Like that." I replied as I stepped through.

"Oh that was very subtle, Vicky." Cris hissed at me as she followed me in.

"Stop being a damn chickenshit." I snapped back at her.

"What? Chickenshit? I'll show you chickenshit!"

Marina just shook her head as we moved further in. We didn't make it to much farther in when I felt the hair standing up on the back of my neck, someone was here, I could feel it. Cris and Marina also kept quiet as we moved further in, but I noticed I wasn't the only one with a hand on my weapons.

Suddenly there was a rush beside me as we stepped into the large storage area of the warehouse. Without even thinking my asps came out and came up and under the arm that had a pistol pointed at me and a shot fired as it swung upward. "Shit!" I heard a males voice exclaim before he drew back, trying to grab my arm as he did to throw me off balance. I let myself fall backwards under his grabbing arm and a hanbo came flying in, nailing him in the chest and knocking him back. She followed that up with a few quick strikes, knocking the weapon out of his hand before blocking a few of his swings.

Marina was busy with her own attacker as she ducked and wove around another male. She finally managed to sweep his legs out from under him and he rolled away and came back up to his feet and took her down in a tackle. Not missing a beat she rolled along with him before getting a leg between them and pushing him off. He had just enough time to stop his roll before he stared up, wide eyed, as Marina placed a knife at his throat.

I had by now rolled to my feet and was spinning to face the newest threat that had come up quietly behind me. Again my asps lashed out, only to be caught in an iron grip. More than a little stunned I glared at the black haired man who held my weapons before I lashed out with a roundhouse kick, which he also easily managed to block. Was this bastard grinning at me? Who the fuck does he think he is? Ok, bastard wants to play rough, fine. I narrowed my eyes and released some of my speed and power, that I normally wouldn't unleash on a human.

In a flurry of movement I tangled with the dark haired stranger and his amusement gradually gave way to... admiration?...as he kept blocking and dodging. But I did get a few minor hits on him. Dude was good, I'll give him that. Even as quick as I was I still wasn't able to get a decent hit in on him. I was starting to wonder what in the hell I was dealing with here. Strangely enough, it didn't seem like he was trying to hurt me. Kinda reminded me of a training session with the guys actually.

Finally he was able to get his own leg sweep in and I hit the ground and found him standing over me, grinning. "I hope your pet training is going better than your combat training." He said in a voice I knew.

I looked at him and blinked a few times as he offered a hand to help me up. "Ironhide?" No wonder I didn't recognize him, I never had the chance to see him in his holoform.

"Not bad, femme." He replied as he gave me a decent yank to help me on my feet. "Not bad at all."

"Um...Hide?" Came a call from where Cris and Marina were holding the other two at bay. "You wanna tell her to make her Amazons back off?" I looked over to see two wild eyed men staring at weapons coming dangerously close to hurting something important.

I chuckled as I walked over towards them. "Lay off the poor boys. We found the ones we were looking for."

"What?" Cris asked befuddled, then looked at what was obviously Ironhide's holoform. "And who's he?"

"I see you have recovered nicely from your wound."

Cris blinked a few times herself before she put it together. "Ironhide!" Then she quickly turned to the black man she was about to clobber with her staff. "Shit!" She exclaimed as she retracted her hanbo. Marina followed suit after following our lead. "You must be Lennox and Epps." Cris said. "Not quite the way I pictured you to be." She added thoughtfully.

"You know us?" Lennox asked, eyeing Marina, and her knives, warily. I would have been wary too if she came close to carving a smily face on my throat.

"In a way." Was all that Cris would say as her and Marina came to stand next to me. "Someone want to explain to me why on earth you boneheads even tried that stunt?"

"Well, honestly, you weren't quite what we expected either." Lennox chuckled. "Three women out here in the middle of the night? Yeah, really not what what we expected."

"Wasn't expecting to get my ass whooped by you either." Epps added.

"What _were_ you expecting?" Marina asked with a raised brow. I knew what she was getting at, what exactly did they know?

Lennox shrugged. "I don't know. Hide wouldn't tell us exactly who we were supposed to talk too."

"Which brings us to the obvious question." I said after a slight nudge in my mind. I tried to hide the smile and avoided looking up. "What exactly is going on?" I jumped a little as Ironhide just fizzled out, but figured out quickly what happened when his headlights came on further in the dark warehouse. And I just stared at the large form standing not far in front of him, previously hidden by the darkness. How on earth did he not hit his head in here?

As the being moved closer I couldn't help it as my eyes grew wider as I had to crane my neck back to look up at him. Cris was also quiet as she took in the large figure, both of us stunned into silence with awe. He stopped not far from us and knelt down, which my neck was very thankful for. "We are in need of your assistance." Optimus Prime told us in his grave, calm voice.


	3. Chapter 3

"So let me get this straight..._you_ need _our_ help?" Cris sounded like she really couldn't believe what she just heard. Wasn't sure I could either.

"Indeed." Prime answered calmly, studying us. "Yours and the help of," He looked at the two men a moment "others."

"You gettin' the feeling they are leaving us out of something?" Epps asked Lennox.

"Yup."

I began to rub my face in frustrated thought, quietly sending a thought out. The quickly returning answer was pretty much what I expected, but I had to make sure.

By now Ironhide had pulled closer to join us. Cris had walked behind the vehicle and dropped the tailgate and hopped up to sit on it. Ironhide's holo popped back out and he glared at her for a moment. "Not going to leak your insides all over me again are you?"

Cris bust out laughing and even I couldn't hold back a chuckle on that one. "Relax big guy, I'm thinking this might take a while and I just wanted to sit down."

"Not a bad idea." I agreed but I at least had the decency to wait for his approving nod before I hopped up next to her. I leaned my back against the side of the bed and let a leg dangle down as I looked over the men thoughtfully. "How much do they know?" I then bluntly asked the Autobots.

"Nothing." Came Ironhide's reply.

"That might complicate matters a little." Marina noted.

"Just a bit." I agreed, then sighed as I looked at Prime. "I'm assuming we are going to have to deal with these two, otherwise you wouldn't have brought them along."

He just nodded in agreement.

"And I'm also assuming Ironhide told you everything."

Again just a nod.

"I told you he was keeping secrets." Epps griped, Lennox just grunted, but did look a little hurt towards the black bot.

"Don't be mad at him." I told them. "He didn't say anything by my request."

"Must be a big secret then."

I sighed, once again seeking advice from above on how to handle this. Cris and Marina just waited patiently, they knew what I was doing.

"Ok, what is going on first of all. Let's start with that and we'll work our way from there."

So we listened as the story of the missing bus became more clear. Turns out it didn't just disappear, the Cons had snatched it. The autobots couldn't get to it, and more than likely neither could the soldiers. They were good, but apparently not that good. The problem being that the Con base had been tracked to a fairly easy location to find, but hard to sneak up on. Since the Cons could detect the Autobots, and their human allies, they were pretty much nailed to the floor. Someone had to go in, but none of them could. So, Hide though about us, jeez...thanks a lot buddy. Wasn't quite sure if we were getting thrown under the bus here or not.

"How about sending the navy seals in or something." Cris asked. "Gotta be some kind of military unit than can go in."

"Couple problems with that theory." Lennox spoke up. "One, they don't have the equipment, or the training, to take on Cons. Take out human terrorists yes, but these guys are way overmatched to deal with this. Two, they are not officially a part of N.E.S.T. so they don't even know the Cons are here."

"And you'd like to keep it that way." Marina asked and Lennox nodded.

"Bishop?" Cris asked and I just turned my head to stare at her. Was she fucking crazy? "What? It would make sense. I mean he does have all of the gadgets and gizmos. And his agency supposedly is supposed to deal with this kinda shit."

"But you forget to mention the fact he's a crazy ass maniac who would just as quickly turn on the Autobots as soon as the Cons were taken care of. I honestly think he uses his agency to cover his own experiments more than out of any real desire to be helpful."

"Involving Bishop would indeed complicate matters." Prime agreed.

"You've had the unfortunate pleasure to meet him I'm assuming."

"Dude is whacko." Lennox muttered.

"You have no idea." I muttered back. "So basically there is no government agency that can be relied upon to go in without raising all kinds of alarm bells." I just got confirmation nods from them. "So you need someone...outside the government." Again with the nods.

"Oh boy." Cris sighed. "I think I know where this is going."

"I do see a road trip in our future." I agreed.

"And what on earth makes you think you three are going to be able to do anything?" Epps burst out.

I just gave him a level look, even as I sensed movement in the darkness. "Epps, what on earth makes you think we are going in alone?"

He blinked at me in surprise. "Well, I just thought..."

"That the three of us were the only ones who showed up and that we would be the only ones going in?"

"Pretty much."

I made eye contact with both Hide and Prime, and they gave me reassuring nods, obviously aware of what was going through my mind. Another nudge hit me and I knew it was time to lay the cards on the table.

"Ok, so I guess we come down to the nitty gritty." I said as I looked at the two men. Cris and Marina also became more serious now. All of us knew this had to be said, or it all stops right here. "We will help, but we have certain...conditions I guess you could say that need to be agreed upon."

Epp's eyes narrowed as he looked back at me. "Like what?" He asked suspiciously.

"First off, no one is to know about us unless they absolutely have too to make this work. Nothing gets told about us. And especially not to any other agency, or politicians or anyone else who might ask questions that could bring us harm."

"Seems fair enough."

"One of us will need to work closely with whoever is monitoring the situation, I'm assuming that would be Jazz, right?"

Lennox and Epps blinked a little. "How did you...nevermind." Lennox mumbled.

I sighed, now came the whopper request. "We will need lodging close to the command center, but away from prying eyes for eight adults, and seven children."

"What! Are you kidding me! This isn't a damn kindergarden!" Epps exploded, but I held firm, keeping my steady gaze on him.

"I knew this was going to happen." Cris mumbled, and I just nodded in agreement.

"I don't think they will understand the last request until they know why we are asking." Marina said calmly.

"Should we just go ahead and tell them?" Cris asked. "I mean they are going to find out sooner or later."

"Tell them?" I replied "You think they will believe that?"

"Why not, they walk around with giant robots."

I just shook my head. "Not the same, Cris."

"Just curious guys." Cris asked with a grin. "How is your medical situation?"

"What?" Lennox asked, more than a little confused now.

"Just making sure you're not prone to heart attacks, fainting spells, random bouts of shootings, things like that."

"Why?"

"Because humans tend to get a little upset at our appearance." Leo calmly replied as he led his brothers finally out of the shadows.

Both men jumped at the sudden voice behind them and spun around. Lennox did this funny hop, back peddle almost fall on his ass thing. "Whoa! What the fuck are you!"

Epp's response was a bit more direct as his pistol whipped out. "Holy mother of shit! Tell me I can shoot it! Please tell me I can shoot it!

Leo just crossed his arms and looked calmly back at him. "It wouldn't do you any good."

"But you're welcome to try." Raph grinned at him, cracking his knuckles.

Epp's eyes were wide as he still held his pistol aimed at them, until Ironhide forced the arm down, and took his toy away. "Aww fuck naw man! I ain't gettin paid enough for this shit! First giant ass robots tryin' to blow my ass up, now these Shrek lookin' motherfuckers..."

"Turtles, bro." Mikey told him. "Tur-tles. Not Shrek lookin' motherfuckers. Tho he does have a lot in common with Raph."

Raph knocked his little brother upside the head. "Will you shut up?"

"Both of you knock it off." Leo said over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off of the two men in front of them.

Lennox had by now recovered enough to walk back up to them again. "Well, I guess this explains the secrecy." He said and Leo nodded.

Epps, still looking a little wide eyed, walked over towards where Cris and I were still sitting on the back of Hide's vehicle form. "Move over, I need to sit down." Trying real hard to laugh at the poor man, Cris and I complied and made room for him and he sat down with a heavy plop. "Not what I was expecting when I signed up." I heard him mutter and smiled.

Lennox turned to me again. "Ok, so these guys of yours, you actually think they can help?"

"I think we need to clear something up right now." I told him. "They are not 'my guys'. If anything, it's the other way around."

"What do you mean?"

"Smart one isn't he?" Cris said sarcastically.

"Hush you." Raph told her, and she rolled her eyes.

"I mean, Major, they don't take orders from us, we take them from him." And I pointed at Leo. "I was just the first contact point."

"Oh great...leave a bus full of people in the care of walking talking turtles." Epps muttered again.

Now I was starting to get pissed with him. Why do folks always think anything majorly different than them is, well, not good enough. On his other side I could see Cris' eyes flash. But it was Ironhide who spoke, breaking the long Autobot silence. I'm assuming they had remained quiet to give the two men the time needed to take this all in, but now the black bot was probably losing his patience. "I assure you, they are very capable." he snapped "Their methods are...different, but effective."

Lennox sighed. "All right, Hide. You win. You trust them so much, there has to be a reason." He turned towards Leo. "Sorry about all this. We pretty much thought we saw it all when we ran into these guys."

"It's cool, dude." Mikey grinned. "This much awesomeness is hard to take in."

Lennox actually managed a grin himself on that one.

"Before we fully commit to this, there is still one issue that needs to be cleared up." Leo said firmly.

"Which is?"

"The children will be coming with us. I refuse to leave them behind for an extended amount of time unprotected."

"Oh come on!" Epps exploded. "They are kids! Who would want to hurt them?" This didn't go over well with the four fathers, especially Leo and Raph.

"You assume that they are human younglings." Ironhide growled at him. "They would be in danger if we take their parents from them."

Epps just stared at him, then at the turtles, then at us women, then he facepalmed.

"The kids go, or we stay." Raph growled bluntly.

Finally Prime himself spoke. "We can not expect them to come to our aid and leave their own families in danger. We offer your families protection, it would be selfish of us not to extend them the same courtesy."

Lennox sighed again, then nodded. "Agreed." He told Leo.

"Good, now that we got that all settled." Donnie pushed his way forward and walked up to Prime. "I understand that you guys have weapons and tech that you really don't want to share with us little earthlings."

"Indeed."

"You're not getting any of their toys Donnie." Leo told him firmly.

"Wasn't going to ask that. Well, maybe-"

"Nevermind." Leo said.

"Fine...anyway, I will have to work closely with one of your own, as Vicky said earlier, to determine the most effective way we can help. This requires that I know things that you maybe have not shared with your human allies. If I promise to delete everything I get from you, and never use any of the things I remember again, would this be acceptable? I'll even have one of your own do it if it would make you feel better."

"You just want to see what makes them tick." Mikey told him with a grin.

"Well, yeah, I do, but that's not what I'm getting at. All I want is access to anything that might help, supervised of course. Anything I use will be solely for the purpose of this mission, nothing else."

"I believe that can be arranged." Prime agreed.

"How come he gets to play with the bot's stuff and we don't?" Epps asked.

"Because they have no intention of turning it against others." Ironhide answered him. "They don't need our weapons."

"They would just get in our way." Leo confirmed. "But this situation is a bit different, if we are going to do this we need to know as much about these Cons as we can, or the whole thing will fail before we even start."

"Just out of curiosity, what exactly are you going to do?" Lennox asked.

"I don't know yet, depends on how the situation is when we get to your base."

"Then let us delay no longer." Prime said. "Ironhide will accompany you, gather what you need and he will escort you to where we will be departing from."

"I still can't believe this shit." Epps said shaking his head. By the time he looked back up again, the guys were gone. "What the hell? Where did they go? What the fuck are they? Ghosts?"

"Close enough." I said as Cris chuckled. "They are ninjas."

.

.

"So, Hide, who all are we dealing with here?" I asked the black truck as we drove along the early morning streets, talking quietly to avoid waking the sleeping children in the vehicle. I had my four, strapped in securely with Ironhide's seatbelts, and the other children were in the van following behind. Both vehicles had gear we would need, both weapons and kids stuff, loaded in them. That was actually a little funny I had thought as I placed Ari's diapers next to Cris' arrows, shurikan and kunai. Looked like a bunch of kids were going to war.

Donnie had shut down the portal after I explained to my family that we would be gone for awhile, and avoiding telling them where we were going. Dealing with Turtle stuff was hard enough for them, I don't think they needed to know we were graduating to giant mean robots. He also rigged the whole place up to...let's just say deter anyone who stumbled into the empty lair. Honestly, I would have left the kids with my parents if I could have, but that wasn't going to happen. No way my folks could handle all of them, not with the portal being shut down and April and Casey not being avilable to them for help.

"Us or them?" He asked through his radio.

"Both, I guess. But I'm curious on which bots we might run into on base."

"You will find out soon enough." He replied in an amused voice as he navigated the streets.

We drove along quietly for a bit, the steady quiet hum of his engine was actually a kind of soothing sound. I was wondering if he made the ride so smooth on purpose, to lure little sleepy kids back to sleep. Didn't seem like a bad idea either I thought as I yawned.

"How much further." I tiredly asked.

"Not much." He replied "The turnoff is just ahead."

I just nodded and laid my head back against the headrest and watched as he drove us into a large airfield, then led the way to a waiting cargo plane. "I'm assuming that's our ride?"

"Yes. You will all remain in the vehicles for the duration of the flight, to avoid unnecessary contact."

"Makes sense." _'Leo.'_ I reached out.

_'Yes, dear one?'_

_'Hide wants us to stay put inside the vehicles so we don't bump into someone who doesn't need to know.'_

_'Got it.'_

The truck bumped a little as Hide moved up the ramp, but not enough to wake the sleeping passengers. It was pretty obvious that Prime was already there and strapped in, couldn't miss the big red and blue semi.

Hide pulled farther in and the van came up right behind, both vehicles coming to a stop where Lennox and Epps told them too, then a tarp was thrown over the van before the flight crew was allowed in to strap them down. Hide had the foresight to darken his windshield, so my little twins would remain undetected, as the airmen started strapping him in. I smiled at the sound of his grumpy mumbling as the net and straps tightened around him.

"What's the matter?" I finally asked the grumbling transformer.

"The restraints are...annoying."

"Not a big fan of flying, are you?"

"Not really."

I just smiled and laid my head back again as the plane started to taxi to the runway. He had some good insulation in his vehicle form, usually these military planes were loud as fuck, but barely any noise made it inside the cab. This might be an enjoyable flight after all, I just wished I could look out a window. I loved to look out windows when on planes, always thought the view was wonderful from so high up.

With a lurch, the large lumbering machine began to pick up speed and soon after the tilt hit and we were in the air. And soon after that the noise I was dreading to hear happened as Lavinia was starting to whine a little in her sleep. "Shit." I mumbled as I unbuckled myself to reach back to get her.

"Is there a problem?"

"Her ears hurt. The pressure is getting to her."

"Leave her to rest, I'll take care of it." And before I could respond my own ear popping eased up, and Lavi settled back into a deep sleep again.

"Y'know, you are very useful to have around. How did you do that?"

"Autobot secret." He told me, with amusement in his voice.

"Oh, jeez..." I rolled my eyes. "Your almost as bad as Leo is."

"Are you comparing me to the reptile?"

"No, I'm comparing two males." I grinned at him as I settled back down and buckled up and he just snorted in reply. "How long does the flight last." I asked as I was pulling the blanket back over Dennis who was sleeping in the passenger seat next to me. I was grateful for my stealthy ninja. Leo had managed to load them all up without waking a single child. Otherwise this would prove to be a noisy flight. He was now ten, and Amy nine, but if they had been awake they would be pestering the hell out of Hide, I mean, they did know who he was afterall. Just never got the chance to meet him. All hell was going to break loose when they woke up though.

"A few earth hours. Plenty of time for you to rest."

"Yeah, I suppose." I said as I still watched my son sleep. Thoughts and doubts were running through my head. Wasn't sure I could sleep.

"What's bothering you?"

"Ok, seriously, first Leo does this shit to me, now you. How did you know something was?"

"You think Ratchet is the only one who can monitor life signs? He is better equipped for it but we all have the ability."

I sighed and leaned my head against the headrest again. "I don't know. Maybe I'm a little scared about this whole mess."

He remained quiet, really wasn't much he could say I suppose. I turned my head to look out the window, not that I could see anything besides the inside of the plane. "Hide, you ever regret some of the choices you've made?"

"Sometimes." He replied. "Are you regretting the current decision?"

"Yes and no. I mean, I want to help, I really do but I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing."

"Doesn't change the fact that the choices need to be made, and only you can decide what is right. Now rest. Ratchet will have my aft if you arrive not fully functional."

"Fine," I smiled "I guess we really don't want to piss the Hatchet...I mean Ratchet, off." He had to turn his radio off to keep from laughing and waking the kids, but the truck did bounce a little with his laughter.

It took me some time to settle down, but I finally did let my eyes slip closed and sleep overtake me. Tomorrow was going to be very interesting to say the least.


	4. Chapter 4

Sally sat with the others huddled in a corner of a very large, barren room. They had all been practically dropped in here, bus and all, before they ripped the top of the bus and forced them all out. It had been, and still was, very dark in the room, the only light were those glowing red dots. Soon they disappeared, along with the remains of the bus, and the room was now empty of anyone except the bus riders. Or so most of them thought.

She was wise enough to know they more than likely weren't alone, one way or another they were being watched. She kept that thought to herself however. Sally still wasn't entirely sure if they had been all swept up out of sheer coincidence, or if they were looking for her. Since they hadn't bothered with their captives, she was assuming the former. If they had known about her, there wouldn't be anything left of her to bury.

They were frightened, tired, cold, hungry and banged up a little, but at least they were all still breathing. That in itself was a major blessing. Sally just wondered how long that blessing would hold up. From all the information she had gathered about these things, if they didn't get out of here soon, they wouldn't at all.

The only thing she could think of was that they were needed alive, and again she could only wonder why with no definite proof to go off of. Sure, she knew they were up to something, but she didn't have enough info herself to figure out what. Which was why she had been sent to that backwater base anyway, to meet up with someone who could use the information. All she could for certain say was that these giant robot things had been making raids for the last few weeks, taking shit so hush hush that some of it she couldn't even name. And now this.

Sally just sighed in frustration, right now there was nothing she could do. She would have to wait, wait and hope that there would be a chance to do something. Not that there was much she could do by herself. She hoped that someone out there was aware of what was going on and would send help. Poor Will...he must be worried sick...

.

.

"How ya holdin' up?" Epps asked his friend as he sat in the seat next to him.

"I'm not." Came the solemn reply from where Will sat with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "How much time did we waste on this side trip? Time wasted getting a bunch of freaks that the Con's will more than likely wipe out in a blink of an eye. I mean, did you even get a good look at their gear? Not one of them carries a weapon that will even come close to putting a dent in them. Not even a fucking pistol. And they still have my cousin. We should be back at base, making plans, not out here chauffeuring a bunch of...I don't know whats."

Epps sighed as he leaned back, rubbing a hand over his face. "Well, to be fair the women did hold their own pretty good. Can't remember the last time I got my ass whooped like that. And did you see the way they just disappeared? Creepy."

"Oh yeah, Epps. Creepy is really going to scare the Cons off." Will snapped.

"Well, we sure as hell can't do anything." Epps snapped back. He understood Will's frustration over the entire thing, he wasn't sure either if he wanted to trust these...things. The only thing keeping his own doubts in check was the fact that Hide was vouching for them. "I wonder what happened back when they went missing." He mumbled quietly to himself. They never really did get the whole story from Hide, Bee and Ratchet, but it was right after they got back from New York that contact had been made with Bishop. And he had been firmly told to keep his nose out of N.E.S.T. business. So far he has since then.

Will gave him his own thoughtful look. "I don't know, but I'd like to find that out myself now. How on earth did Hide run into them when he was out on a Con sighting? Think Bishop may have something to do with it?"

"I don't know, man." Epps sighed. "Shit is all fucked up..."

"Yeah." Will replied softly.

They sat in silence for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts. "Prime call ahead yet?"

Will just nodded. "Jazz is moving all the troops out of the vicinity now. Should be clear when we land, besides some very curious bots."

"Probably wondering what Hide's secret weapon is."

"I have a sneaky feeling they already know. Remember, none of them looked too surprised over the fact that we were coming here."

"Maybe." Epps shrugged. "I think I can understand why Hide kept them secret though."

"Same reason we try to keep the Autobots quiet." Will agreed. "I can see a witch hunt happening if their presence becomes general knowledge. As much as they freak me out, I don't want that either."

"Me neither. I mean, they are risking everything to come help us, it would be a bad way to repay them." He looked at Will, who was staring at the other side of the plane. "Whatddya say man...give 'em a chance?"

Will sat still a moment before he nodded. "Call me crazy, but I have a feeling they actually can help. I don't know why, I just do."

Neither one of them spoke the rest of the trip, but Epps did catch Will glancing at the tarp covered vehicle a few times, with hope in his eyes. That right there was already a far step forward from his terrified worry that had been plaguing him since this whole shit started.

.

.

It was the sudden jolt of the plane hitting tarmac that woke me up. And I wasn't the only one. "Mom?" Dennis said as he rubbed his eyes. "Where are we?"

"Right now? On a plane." I smiled at him. I was trying to delay this as long as possible, for Ironhide's sake.

"A plane? Why?" He turned his still not quite awake eyes to me. Ironhide was remaining suspiciously quiet on the subject I noticed as the plane started to taxi to a stop. I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed that Amy was awake too. "And who's car is this?"

I sighed. "Brace yourself." I told the Autobot "They are going to figure this out real soon anyway as soon as they see the truck." Then I turned to my son. "The question isn't 'Who's car this is' Dennis, more like 'Who is the car?'.

"Huh?" He blinked at me, not quite catching on.

It was about then that Amy spotted the red and blue semi in front of us. "Whoa, that looks like Optimus!" She squealed as the restraints were starting to be removed on the vehicles. She undid her seatbelt and tried to crawl up front to get a better look, then stopped, stunned, as it wrapped itself back around her, forcing her back on her butt in the seat. "Hey!"

"Youngling, you will remained seated until you are given permission to get up."

Their eyes grew wide as the truck spoke and I laughed at their confusion. "Honey, that doesn't _look_ like Optimus, that _is_ Optimus." They still just stared at me like I was nuts. "And you are sitting in Ironhide." I added.

"No friggin way!" Dennis exploded just as Amy let out another excited scream. Ironhide shuddered at the high pitch in her voice.

"Amy! Knock it off!" I snapped at her. "I know you are excited but keep it down! I need you both to listen to me, do not get out until you are told to do so, understood?" Both heads nodded. But Amy did let out a disgruntled "Why?" as the last of the restraints were removed and the flight crew disappeared. Then Lennox and Epps came up and pulled the tarp off of the van before Lennox leaned in to talk with Donnie who was behind the wheel.

"Because, this is a first time meeting between all of us and we aren't exactly sure how this is going to turn out." I replied. "You will stay in this vehicle until it is safe for you to come out." The vehicles had by now fired up, and Donnie was backing the van out of the plane.

"Are we at their base?" Dennis asked excitedly and I just nodded. "This is so cool!"

Then it was our turn as Hide backed up. Dennis and Amy were glancing around windows, trying to catch a glimpse of anything they could. Finally Ironhide cleared the plane and began the roll down the ramp when others came into view, some I knew right away, some not even I could put a name to because they had never been seen in the movies. "Mom! Look! That's Bumblebee!" Amy hooped.

"Ratchet! Ratchet is here!"

"Jazz!" They both hollered together. That one made me tear up a little, I was so glad he was fine. Even though I knew he was, from the last time I meet Ironhide, it felt so good to see his vehicle form parked next to the others. Seems like movies didn't always get it right after all. What a surprise...yes, I am being sarcastic.

"Sideswipe!"

"Who is the yellow one next to him?"

"I don't know."

"Look! Arcee!"

"Skids and Mudflap!"

"Primus help me." Ironhide mumbled under the commotion and I laughed.

"Who is the blue one?"

"That one?"

"Yeah."

"That's Jolt."

"Oh yeah! Now I remember!"

We had now made it to the tarmac and now Prime made his way out of the plane as Ironhide pulled in next to where the van had come to a stop. Epps and Lennox came walking up behind us as my seatbelt came undone. I turned to the kids, Ty and Lavi were still sleeping so the older ones had my attention. "Stay put." I told them and they nodded. "And don't touch _anything _unless Hide says it's ok." Again they nodded and I slipped out of the vehicle as Prime pulled to a stop next to us. The plane was already moving away to where ever it was supposed to go to.

"Is it safe for them to come out?" I asked the two men as we walked around the side of the van.

"Yeah." Epps replied. "Jazz cleared this area out right after we took off, the only ones here are the bots themselves."

At that point the yellow camero came speeding towards us before skidding to a stop right in front of the van as the doors opened.

"Bee! How ya been hangin' you big robot!" Mikey hollered as he shot out of the van. Bee transformed and knelt down to greet his smaller turtle friend as Cris stepped out, with the other three turtles not far behind her. Marina and Caitlin remained inside of the van where Thane, Dante and Ari were already awake.

"High five bro!" Mikey chirped and Bee looked at his hand, which only had four digets as Mikey was looking at his three fingered one. "Um...High seven!" He exclaimed instead and Bee held his hand up, very high.

"Seems like they know each other." Will said.

"Does look that way doesn't it." Epps replied.

"Oh, you think I can't reach that?" Mikey was saying. He narrowed his eyes and took a running start then leapt up into a forward spin, and his hand met solidly with Bee's. Unfortunately there was to much momentum in between the two and when their hands smacked together, an amusing sight in it's own way, Mikey went tumbling out of control and was flying towards the parked Autobots nearby.

"Mikey! Look out!" Cris let out an honest fear filled strangled cry as soon as she realized he was heading for the unidentified yellow car, some kind of fancy looking sports car. "Don't hit that-" She didn't even get to finish as he slammed into it, skidding across the hood, scratching it with his shell, then rolled off the other side to the ground. "Owwww..."

A few things then happened all at once, the yellow car switched to bot mode and pointed a weapon at Mikey, with fury in his eyes, and began to shoot and the now wildly dodging turtle just as Sideswipe also transformed into the familiar wheeled footed robot I remembered from the movie. "Sunny! No!" He screamed as he tackled the yellow one at the same time Jazz came dodging in to save Mikey from getting blown to bits.

"That disgusting thing ruined my paint!"

"It was an accident, Sunny!"

"Don't call me that!" He snapped, still trying to get a good aim at Mikey, who was now hiding behind Jazz.

"Dude, chill! It's just paint!" Mikey yelled.

The robot I now knew as Sunstreaker got even more pissed, if that was even possible, and threw his brother off before he was able to scramble up onto his feet. With a squeal of fright Mikey turned and hauled ass across the tarmac, once again dodging plasma blasts as they impacted all around him.

"Someone save that idiot!" Cris screamed. "Sunstreaker will blow him to fucking ash clouds if someone doesn't get to him and glue his damn mouth shut!"

Leo and Raph were already moving, chasing after Mikey who was still running and hooping and hollering. "Dude I'm sorry! I promise I'll never touch the paint again! Just quit shooting at me! Like you can hit me anyway!" He jumped up into the air doing a split as another blast hit the ground where he was just at a moment before. He hit the ground and dodged right as another one came flying in. He leapt to avoid another one just as Leo and Raph leapt to slam into him in midair, then slammed him to the ground.

"Not bad." I heard from behind me and I turned to look. "Lil green guy got some skills." Jazz said as he passed us, also making his way over to the rukus.

"Not even here five god damn minutes and you are already getting on everyone's god damn nerves!" Raph snapped at Mikey.

Mikey looked like he was going to say something but Leo just slapped a hand over his mouth. "Mikey, for once, just shut the hell up!" Leo yelled as he watched the pissed yellow bot come stalking in, before he too was tackled again by Sideswipe.

"Sunstreaker! Enough!" A clearly frustrated Optimus said, now standing in between the the angry Autobot and his target as Sideswipe struggled to calm him down.

Jazz had by now worked his way over to the turtle pile, once again placing himself between Mikey and Sunstreaker. "Not tha kind of entrance we was a plannin' on." He grinned down at the three.

"Not the kind we were planning on either." Leo told him a little wild eyed. Mikey just mumbled something none of us could understand through Leo's hand.

It took awhile for everyone to settle down before Sideswipe let Sunstreaker up, and Leo and Raph did the same for Mikey. "You open your flaptrap one more time and I will personally stuff you head first into his gun and let him blast you all the way back to New York." Raph growled at Mikey as they made their way back over.

Sunstreaker however seemed to ignore the turtles as he came stomping over towards us, his eyes fixed on Cris. He looked like he was going to blow a gasket again as he stared her down. "You mentioned my name. How do you know me femme? Are you some kind of spy?" He looked like he was itching to pull his weapon out again, but Sideswipe laid a hand on that twitching arm.

"Back down, Sunstreaker!" Came Ratchet's voice, accompanied by a metal clang as he whacked the yellow bot, with a wrench. Sunstreaker just glared at him a moment but backed off as Ratchet made his own approach. "I see you still cause trouble where ever you go." He grinned as he knelt down to greet us. "I don't know that one." He pointed to Donnie who was looking around more than a little wide eyed himself.

"Ratchet, this is Donnie." Cris told him. "This is the one we were trying to help that night."

"It seems you succeeded. Greetings."

Donnie just gave him a stunned wave and we chuckled.

By now the rest of them had transformed and gathered around us, sizing us up I imagine. Bee had picked up Mikey and placed him on his shoulder, I'm assuming to keep him out of more trouble. The rest of us felt a little crowded as we were surrounded by towering Autobots. The obvious unspoken questions filling the air. Now I know what a fish in an aquarium feels like...

"Ok." Lennox spoke up. "These guys are here to help. So can we _please_ avoid anymore of these incidents," He glared at Sunstreaker, then up at Mikey. "and focus on the task at hand now?"

"Well said." Leo murmured, also giving the youngest a glare. Mikey just returned it with an apologetic shrug. "I think it might not be a bad idea for us to find where we are staying and unload, let bad first impressions simmer down a bit."

"Not going to argue with you on that one." Epps said and Jazz grinned again.

I walked back over to Hide and got back in, thankful that the twins didn't wake up in the ruckus. "That went well." I muttered as Donnie fired the van up next to us.

"Better than you might expect." Came the reply as he moved forward, following Jazz.

"Oh? I thought it went pretty disastrous myself."

"That's because you could not hear the private communication between us. More than one of them are pretty impressed with the way he was able to dodge Sunstreaker's shots. Not many fleshies are able to achieve that."

"Oh? How many exactly?"

"As of to date? One, him."

I cracked up laughing.


	5. Chapter 5

We pulled to a stop beside a very large building, looked like some kind of converted hanger or something, but it was obviously large enough for Prime's tall frame to fit in. "This is the Command Center. Your quarters will be located on the other side, next to Ratchet's med-bay." he told me as all of the seatbelts unsnapped and retracted.

"Mom, I really got to go the bathroom." Amy said.

I've never seen car doors open that fast...

Amy hopped out and took a moment to look around, obviously nervous. I mean Jazz was like ten feet away from her, back in bot mode, and he was watching her as she stared up at him. "Hi." She managed, with a wave. "You're Jazz..." She almost whispered in awe.

"Yes, Ah am. An' who are you, Lil lady?"

She giggled a little at his accent. "Amy. Ummm I really got to go to the bathroom..."

"Yeah, I do too." Dennis said as he slipped out of the truck.

"C'mon." He grinned at them and led them inside, patiently dealing with their excited jibber jabber.

"Let's get Ironhide unloaded first." Leo was telling his brothers "I'm sure the poor guy is itching to stretch out." He came over to grab Ty from me as I pulled him out of the vehicle, then I reached in for Lavi.

When I came back out with her, I noticed Lennox and Epps staring at the three year olds in our arms. This was the first time they got a good look at my half turtle children. Leo also caught the looks. "Now you understand why I would not leave them behind." He told them quietly.

"I think I do understand now." Came from Lennox as he thoughtfully regarded the now waking up twins.

"They yours?" Epps asked him, and Leo nodded, still watching them. Then a grin suddenly erupted on his face. "Cute little boogers. Too cute to be yours, must get it from their Mom."

Leo just smiled as he set Ty down. Caitlin walked over with Arianne in her arms and took Ty's hand in hers as I put Lavi down. "Come on you two, let's go inside." She turned and walked into the building with them, and Marina followed with Thane and Dante.

"There must be one hell of a story behind that being able to happen." Lennox said as he watched them go.

"There is, but if the women are willing to tell you is another question." Leo told him. "The facts leading up to this happening really isn't a pleasurable thing to share."

"You can say that again." Raph mumbled as he pulled Cris close to him, sharing a rare public tender moment with her before beginning to unload the bed of the truck. He yanked on Mikey's suitcase, and was surprised a little at the weight of it. "Jeez, Mikey! What the hell you got in here? Bricks?"

"Well...not exactly" He replied a little nervously. Then winced as Raph dropped it to the ground, the muffled grunt coming from said suitcase was heard by all of us.

"What the hell?" Raph asked as Leo bent over to open the bag, and found Casey inside.

"Hey guys..."

"Oh no..." Leo groaned as once again weapons were pulled out.

"Easy, chuckleheads." Raph told the now once again on edge men. "He's with us, apparently. What the fuck Casey!" he then snapped at his friend.

"Hey! Don't yell at me! Mikey invited me along."

Leo and Raph turned to glare at the youngest, who chuckled a little nervously. "I figured he would want in on this." He tried to explain, a little lamely if you asked me.

"So, who do we stand in line in front of to beat first?" Cris asked. "Mikey or Casey?"

"You fucking idiots!" Raph fumed. "Of all the times to pull this shit you do it in the middle of a top secret military base!"

Both of them just shrugged.

"Get this crap of off the truck and inside." Leo told them in a calm tone, that belied the anger I was feeling coming from him. "Then I will deal with you both later." Both of them winced at that one.

Leo closed his eyes a moment before turning to the two humans. "I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed to happen."

"He gonna be a problem?" Epps asked.

"Not to you," Cris replied "he might get on my nerves a bit."

"I can vouch for his abilities to keep his trap shut though." Leo added. "He's kept our secret a very long time, and does join us on a lot of our own expeditions."

Epps and Lennox looked at each other, not quite sure about this. I didn't blame them one bit. "You trust him?" Lennox asked and Leo nodded.

"Ah, what the hell," Epps shrugged "we already broke a shitload of regulations, what's a few more?"

.

.

"This is incredible!" Donnie exclaimed as he took in the control room. "Just think of the things I could do back home with some of this stuff..." He sighed somewhat regretfully.

Jazz just grinned at the clearly excited turtle. "A'hm asummin' you tha one A'hm supossed to work with?"

Donnie just nodded absentmindedly as he looked over everything. "Is that a multiple frequency converter?" He asked, pointing to a machine that looked like an oversized washing machine to me.

"Yeah, jus' put dat bitch in not to long ago. Still need ta break it in."

"Amazing... I've been wanting to build one for awhile now, but can't figure out how to do it without blowing up a few city blocks."

"Like he would mind doing that." Cris mumbled to me from where she was leaning against the wall next to me. We were quietly watching the exchange from an out of the way spot next to the door that led into the large store room that had been cleared out for our use. It was actually surprisingly roomy, but that was expected when you consider the size of the supplies that were kept in here. Large bots apparently need large supplies so hence the large room. An added bonus, besides opening directly to the control room, was the fact that med-bay was literally right next to us. Chances were good that in this location at least one bot would be able to keep an eye on the kids and Caitlin, a fact that calmed Leo's worrying mind greatly.

"Be nice." I chuckled back to her.

"I am." She replied as Ironhide walked in, with the twins not far behind him. Cris let out a small sigh when she caught sight of them.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing really. It's just those two are my favorite transformers, I'd love to get to know them better."

"Well, go say hi."

She gave me this incredulous look. "You don't know them very well do you?'

I just shrugged. "Not as well as you do apparently. I'm the turtle expert, transformers is more your thing."

She just shook her head. "You don't mess with those two if you can avoid it. They aren't exactly human friendly."

"Nor turtle friendly I noticed."

"That's different. Mikey's dumbass went and scratched Sunny's paint, don't _ever_ mess with his paint."

Suddenly we looked back over to notice that they were watching us, Sides with curiosity, Sunny with mild anger. Then they started to head our way. "Shit..." Cris mumbled. "Forgot about the advanced hearing."

"You still owe me an explanation, Femme." Sunny growled as they drew closer. "How do you know me, us?"

"Seems like you are very well informed for someone we have never had any dealings with." Sides added.

"And _don't_ call me Sunny." Sunny snapped as he glared down at her. It was about that time Leo walked out from the room we had been given and caught sight of the robot who had tried to fry his brother a few hours ago staring down at us. Ironhide too looked like he was about to intervene, but Cris held up her palm to stop them both.

"It's fine, I'll tell you if you really want to know, but I can't tell you everything."

"Why not?" Sides asked curiously.

"A girls gotta have some secrets." She smiled at him, and to my surprise he actually smiled back.

"Maybe you should show me them sometime..." Sides wagged his eyebrows at her.

"I suppose I could, but I think I'm too much for even your big ego to handle." Sides and I cracked up laughing as she grinned impishly up at him.

"Talk." Sunny growled at her, cutting our laughter short.

"Where to start..." Cris thought out loud.

"Just give them the basics, I'm sure they don't want the whole story."

"Why don't you tell them then?"

"Your the one who said they were your favorites and you wanted to talk to them, well, there you go." Now they were both looking at her curiously, Sides more so than Sunny.

"Thanks a lot." She glared at me, I just back grinned at her. "Well, long story short, Vicky and I are not from this world. Where we come from you are well known, all of you, but in TV shows, comics and movies. That's how we know you, somewhat." Then she glared up at them. "And one other thing. Don't you _dare_ try and prank me, I know you both well enough to see it coming way before you do." They just stared down at her as she kept her glare on them, not showing them the slightest bit of fear.

Jazz's laughter rang out through the large room then and we looked around to see that we had gained a small audience. Not only was Jazz and Hide watching us, but somewhere in the conversation Ratchet, Bee and Prime had also walked in and was now intently watching the exchange take place. Probably ready to come to our aid if Sunny decided to whip out his blasters again.

"Seems like tha femme beat 'cha to tha punch." Jazz grinned at the twins.

"And the punch isn't the only thing I'll beat if they try it." Cris said and Jazz laughed again before turning his attention back to Donnie who had asked him something and the others gathered around them, obviously feeling that Cris had this more than under control.

"You got some guts, femme." Sides finally grinned at her. "So...we are your favorites huh." He tilted his head a little as he looked down at her. Lord he reminded me of a curious puppy when he did that. "Why?" It seemed like he genuinely wanted to know.

She calmly looked up at him. "Well, for a few reasons actually. You both kick ass, you are fun to be around, when you let someone close enough to hang out with you, and I have a fetish about sweet ass rides and they don't get much sweeter than you two." She smiled slyly up at them. "Not many sexy cars out there that can also whoop someone's ass." Then she shrugged. "Besides, I like you."

"Laying it on a bit thick, don't ya think?" Raph grumbled as he came over to join us. He and Mikey had just come into the command center, but Mikey warily held back once he spotted the quick to anger Sunny.

"Not really." She grinned at him. "I think you're sexy too, but for different reasons. You're just lucky I found you first or I'd be up to my head, and more, in Autobot parts."

He just rolled his eyes at her.

The twins seemed a little shocked at her revelation. I'm guessing most here wouldn't ever admit to something like that to them. It seemed she wasn't quite done with them yet however. "Look, I know you guys don't care too much for us humans. We are squishy and disgusting to you and we really don't seem worth protecting. But thank you for doing it anyway."

Sides blinked a little and Sunny's mouth dropped open a bit before he snapped it shut again. Again, somehow I knew she hit on something that wasn't said to them often. "Your...welcome..." Sunny replied, very hesitantly, almost as if he himself couldn't believe he was saying it.

Speaking of hesitant, Mikey had slowly made his way over to us, eyeballing the yellow bot in front of him. And when Sunny did swing his gaze over to meet him he froze in place as he returned the look. Sunny's eyes narrowed a bit, and Raph let out a quiet groan, but Mikey beat them both to the punch. "Look man, I'm really sorry about earlier. It was an accident..."

Raph just stared at him. "Since when do you apologize for being you?"

"Since he came close to frying my pretty little tail off."

I bust out laughing as Cris looked at him amused. "Is that all it takes to get you to behave? Man, I should have bugged Donnie to build me something like that a long time ago." She grinned at him.

Mikey just shrugged. "I know my limits. Don't piss off giant robots." Lord I was dying with laughter.

"You know..." Cris got that amused look in her eye as she looked up at the bots again. "I know a certain turtle who has more than his share of pranks owed to him." She grinned again. "If you get bored."

Sides' answering grin was a little on the devious side as he looked at Mikey. "Oh lord..." Raph facepalmed. "You had to go there."

Mikey had also looked back up at them. "Bring it... You want a prank war, you're going to get one."

Sides knelt down and narrowed his eyes at Mikey, who just stared right back at him. "I believe the human term is 'It's on.'"

"Prank war!" Mikey hooped and out of nowhere came a damn waterballoon and he swung back and nailed Sides right in the face with it. Then he turned and hauled ass out of the room.

"Why you little..." Sides growled and skated out the door after him, with Sunny right on his tail.

"Score one for Mikey." Cris grinned as she watched them leave.

"If he gets splattered all over the concrete you're going to explain to Caitlin why." Raph told her.

"Hey, look at it this way. At least he isn't pranking you. How much do you want to bet that waterballoon was originally meant for your face?"

He thought about that for a minute. "Good point..." Then he grinned.

.

.

"That is going to be difficult to get to." Donnie mumbled as he looked over the map Jazz had pulled up for him.

"You mean you can't do it?" Lennox asked in frustration.

"No, I just said it's going to be difficult."

"What's the difference?" Lennox mumbled.

"Simple, we don't believe in 'can't'." Leo told him as he also looked it over. Lord that was the god honest truth. I can't (pun intended) tell you how many times I thought 'I can't' during training, and they proved to me that not only I could, but I would.

"Wide open space out there, Leo. The recent rain made the ground moist enough to hide dust trails, but that won't last long, the ground is already drying out. Driving in is going to be difficult."

"Then we have to find another way. What does the surrounding terrain look like? Any ravines, tunnels or anything we can use?"

"Not from what we could see." Sides answered. He had been called in from Mikey hunting by Jazz, since he was on the original scouting party and knew the area, and could talk without resorting to radio clips. I loved Bee, but his type of chatter tended to be difficult to understand, and this wasn't the time for confusion. "It's all flat desert out there, perfect for racing..."

Leo just rolled his eyes. Then looked again at the map. The target was a large rock formation standing out in the middle of the open landscape, that the Cons had apparently dug out to form a base. There was no way in hell to sneak up on it, as far as we could tell. "What do we know of the base itself?"

"Not much." Jazz replied "Jus' that it useta be a big rock."

"Is there anyway to scan it or something, to get a good look of it?"

Jazz shook his head. "If Ah do, they'd pick up on it. Didna wanna risk tha humans by tryin'."

"Technology is nice, but not when the other team as it too." Donnie mumbled. "We need something they don't have."

"Not likely gonna happen. They got tha same tech we do."

Cris was leaning on the control panel not far away, her eyes lost in thought as she spun her ring around her finger. Donnie stared at her for a moment as she did before something clicked in his head. "Actually, they don't..." He said softly before he turned to Cris, Marina and I. "The rings ladies, fork 'em over."

"What?" I asked stunned, holding my hand close to me. Didn't he know how much these things meant to us? And he was going to use them for one of his whacky experiments? I _don't_ fucking _think_ so...

"You heard me, give me the rings."

"Not until you give me a good reason why we should." Cris glared at him, obviously not wanting to take hers off either.

He sighed, a little frustrated himself now. "I need them because the trackers in them transmit on a frequency that only exists in your world." He reminded us "If I can get the rings from you I can hook them up to the scanners here and adjust _their_ frequency to match the rings. They can't detect what they don't know exists."

Cris looked at me. "Did you understand anything he just said? Is he giving them back?"

"He better, or I'll whoop his ass." I mumbled as I slid my ring off and handed it over.

"Not if I get to him first." Raph growled. "You know how long it took me to make that motherfucker?"

"Yes, I do Raph, I helped you make it." Donnie replied as he turned back to the console. "Now, get out of my way so I can work." Grumbling we back up a little, but not far enough where he was out of sight of us with those rings. Jazz moved in closer and together they began to work. I had no idea what was going on, but they did seem to work well together.

"Think they know what they are doing?" Lennox asked.

"Yes." Leo replied without even hesitating.

"I hope you are right. Got a lot riding on this."

Leo just looked at him, with that calm gaze of his. "I know."

Lennox just sighed, but didn't say anything else.

After about a half hour or so they finally stepped back, and Donnie passed the rings back out. "Did it work?" Marina asked as she put hers back on.

"About to find out." Her mate replied as Jazz pushed some buttons. Shortly after a screen fired up and there was an image forming on it, bit by bit as the scan ran over the outside of the complex.

"Seems tah be workin'." Jazz said admiringly as the funky lines came together in a solid 3-D picture. Jazz was looking at another monitor that looked like a bunch of moving squiggly lines to me. "An' not a single alarm went off. Smooth as ah knife goin' through butter."

"It actually worked?" Lennox asked. "They didn't figure it out?"

"Couldnta done it better mahself." Jazz reassured him. "Turtle-man here is good."

Leo stepped back next to the control panel then. "Could you please rotate the picture around, so I can get a good look at it?"

Jazz nodded and complied, letting Leo see every angle of the building from the outside. After a few moments, something caught Leo's eye. "There, stop the image." And once again Jazz complied. Leo narrowed his eyes in thought as he took it in. "What would that be?" He pointed to what appeared to be a large hole, high up on the side of the rock structure.

"Exhaust vent mor'n'likely."

"Leads inside, to the main structure I'm going to assume?"

Jazz nodded. "We may have tha better tech, but we still havta keep it cool so it don't overheat. An' they haveta blow all tha hot air out somewhere."

"Computer room access..." Donnie mumbled "Even better."

Leo just nodded. "Looks like we found our way in."

Lennox was staring at them like they were nuts. "That's suicide! It would take forever to climb up there and you'd be completely exposed on the side of the cliff!"

"Cris, go tell the others to get ready. We leave as soon as we finalize the plans." Leo told her and she nodded and went to go find the others. Once she was out of earshot he turned back to Lennox. "We aren't going to climb it."

"How do you plan on getting us up there?" I asked him, more than a little curious.

His eyes never left Lennox. "We'll need a plane, and some parachutes." I just stared at him, this I knew was going to cause one of us to have a melt down, a bad one. "Don't worry about it." He grinned at me. "I'll deal with it."

"You better hope she loves you a lot, cuz she's gonna kill you."


	6. Chapter 6

It was almost time to go. Everything had been planned out, looked over, planned again, rehashed and finalized, now it was time to put it into action, once again using our preferred method of covering ourselves with the darkness of night. The only thing that really caused us major concern was the fact that communicating with the bots would be hard to do. I mean calling out to your allies while in the middle of an enemy base that more than likely had Soundwave floating around somewhere was not a good idea. Donnie and Jazz were still trying to puzzle that one out, but we couldn't wait much longer.

The plane was ready and would pull up soon, and we were telling our children goodbye, always something that never seemed to get easier to do before a big mission. Now something that seemed harder than usual since we had to leave them in the care of strange robots in a strange place.

"You be good," I told my human children as I held them close, Leo had already made his round with them and was outside with Donnie, prepping our gear. "and listen to Caitlin."

"We will Mom." Dennis answered me, and Amy just gave me a tight hug. Then she turned me loose so I could give my turtle twins a quick hug.

"Bye Mommy! Have fun!" Ty told me, and I indulged him with a smile. Fun this wasn't really going to be, but he didn't need to know that.

"I will." I told him as I gave him another hug, then stood up with a quick pang. There was a very good chance that some of us might not make it back if something went wrong tonight. I watched as the others also gave their children warm hugs, Thane was playing the usual 'snatch the mask from Daddy and not give it back' routine again. Something the large father didn't tolerate very well, but let his son get away with this time, even went so far as to chase him around the room a bit. Smiling at the giggling two year old as he was dodging in between everyone.

Once again doubts started to creep in my mind. Were we doing the right thing? How could we do this to them? To risk them losing a parent, or both, just so we could go out and save a bunch of strangers they will probably never meet. I sighed again as I watched for a few moments, then I wasn't there alone anymore.

"You're readings are abnormal again." Ironhide rumbled softly as he walked up, Ratchet by his side.

I looked up at the two as they both had their gaze locked on me. I knew lying really wasn't going to help. "I'm scared." I admitted quietly. "So much can go wrong tonight."

Ratchet knelt down next to me before turning me around to face him fully with his large fingers, that was an eerie feeling. One wrong twitch and I would have been squished. "Don't dwell on it or you will fail." He told me, in a surprising gentle tone for such a grumpy bot.

"I'm sorry Ratchet, I can't help it. I know we have to do this, but it's by far the most dangerous thing we have tried. If this goes horribly wrong...who will take care of them?" I didn't need to tell them exactly who I was referring to, I think they already knew.

"The matter has already been brought to Prime." Ironhide told me in that same quiet rumble. "They will remain under our care if things...don't go as planned."

I was speechless, literally speechless. I stood there gaping with my mouth hanging wide the fuck open as I processed what he just said. _'I didn't want you to worry about it if I brought it up, dear one._' Leo sneaked in. '_They understand the need to keep them away from the humans, and Bishop_.'

_'Did you ask them?'_

_'No, surprisingly Lennox and Prime brought the matter to me. I'm guessing that Ironhide guessed this was bothering you more than a little and spilled the beans.'_

Now I didn't even know what to say to him either, I just stood there all befuddled. But it did ease a lot of my worries, without the 'what ifs' clouding my mind, I was better able to focus at the task at hand. I was still scared, but if something did happen the children would be cared for.

"Interesting..." Ratchet said as he narrowed his eyes at me.

Now confusion hit me, why was he looking at me like that? "What?"

"Who were you talking to just now?"

Again I just stared at him...how the fuck did he know? "Um...Leo...He and I can do this mind talk thing...It's hard for me to explain really. I'm not even really sure I understand how it happened."

"No need to explain. I find it interesting that your, brain waves, give off a similar signal as a sparkbonded pair among our kind would."

"What?" I stammered again, now totally confused.

"What he means, Vicky," Cris said as she walked up "is that among their kind, a bonded pair can also do that mind talk thing you and Leo do."

"So, what, I'm part transformer now too? It's not bad enough I got turtle blood running in me so now we have to add robot DNA?"

"CNA" Cris corrected with a grin.

"Whatever."

"How long have you been able to do this?" Ratchet asked curiously.

"Since right before we ran into you guys actually." I told him.

"That might be why I didn't detect it earlier, the bond was still fresh and untrained." He turned to look at Hide. "Go find that smart one and her mate, and I'll call Jazz." Ironhide just nodded and moved away before Ratchet turned back to me again. "I think I might know a way to use that to solve the communication problem. You and he give off a strong signal, strong enough to where this might work."

"What might work?"

He didn't answer me, but instead pulled something out of some kind of compartment and began playing with it. Cris and I just exchanged quick glances and a shrug as he fully ignored us. Then Ironhide returned with Donnie and Leo around the same time Jazz walked over.

"Interesting opportunity here." He told them. "Apparently she can talk to her mate, much like a sparkbond." He clarified for Jazz, since Donnie already knew this. Jazz looked a little stunned himself, but let the med-bot finish without interrupting. Ratchet looked at Leo, then at me. "During the war a Decepticon named Shockwave liked to toy with his captives. Torture, experiment, he's a twisted mech. He took a fancy once to removing his prisoners ability to communicate. Verbally or by comms and then infect them with a viral program that temporarily identified them as Cons. The poor sods were then released into battle, hobbled and with no weapons they were picked off by their very own faction. It was only after they were dead that the virus's coding was shut down and their true identities were revealed." He paused to gather himself, obviously fighting memories we couldn't even imagine.

"Anyway," he continued "for those that managed to survive, we had to find a way to restore their ability to communicate. This device was designed to act as an artificial transmitter. The mechanism that Shockwave removed. It's wireless and has to be tuned specifically for the bot in question, it picks up on the bots neural waves, then converts it into comm waves. The problem is that these units have been out of use for decades. I only have one receiver capable of decoding the transmission."

"So how does this help us?" I asked.

"Your neural connection functions much the same way our comms work. In our society we call your connection a sparkbond. It is a rare and special gift that few ever share." He gave us a smile. "You are truly lucky. I may be able to adjust the device to pick up your unique neural waves. Unfortunately there will not be an off switch, so whoever wears this receiver will be able to hear every thought that goes on over there, it's what it was designed for after all. This won't work like a normal comm device. The replies will come back over the attachment much like a comm would, but your thoughts would be a constant stream through this machine."

"That might get a little embarrassing." I mumbled.

Ratchet grinned at me. "Indeed, which is why it's very important to choose someone who can block out the distractions."

Donnie's eyes narrowed in thought. "Also someone who is quick enough to throw some advice our way if we do run into trouble."

"Ah can't." Jazz said. "Ahm gonna be busy keepin' an ear out for Cons'."

"I've got to prep med-bay." Ratchet added. "Just in case."

"Bumblebee?"

"Don't be ridiculous. How is he supposed to communicate with them?"

"We could ask the Boss Bot."

"No, Prime is going to have his servos full with the retrieval phase of the plan. Sideswipe?"

"Now who's bein' ridiculous?"

This went back and forth between the two as they listed everyone, and why it wouldn't work. All the while Ironhide was standing there getting annoyed over it all. He reminded me of a bubbling metal teapot about to go off...

"I'll do it." Ironhide finally broke his silence with a frustrated growl. "If this acceptable with you?" He asked Leo and I. Not sure exactly what we were getting into with this whole thing, we nodded like a pair of idiots.

"Are you sure, Hide?" Ratchet asked him. "They think differently than we do. Will be quite an adjustment."

"We already understand each other, somewhat. Unless you would rather have one of the twins do it?"

"Oh, hell no." Cris said. "They would break out in laughing fits. Both sets."

"My point exactly."

Jazz looked thoughtful. "Still need to shield it tho. Jus' ta be safe."

"What if we tied it into her ring?" Donnie asked. "And I equip the whole setup with the same frequency? One of you could wear the receiver and we place a modified device on Vicky. Then her and Leo can talk through it, and whoever is wearing this part can hear them."

"Tha might work... But ya haveta also adjust it so the bot wearin' it can send back out."

"That's not a problem either really." He took his pack off and set it on the ground before pulling something off of it. "Vicky has the ring to shield her end. This is the reciever I made for those rings, a few minor tweaks and it will be able to send as well as receive, then the conversation will be effectively shielded from both ends. I'll just leave this part here, attached to your little toy there, with whoever gets to play messenger boy."

"I can't lug that thing around!" I protested. "I'll be crawling around on my knees if I do, damn thing looks heavy."

"Leo might like that." Cris grinned at me.

"Will you shut up!" I snapped at her, but not before I blushed.

Ratchet looked thoughtful for a moment, before he did some weird scanny shit to me. He could have at least warned me he was going to do that. "Hold out your hand, the one with the ring." He told me, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"First Donnie, and now you. Why does everyone want to fuck with my ring?"

"Blasted femme! Just hold your hand out!"

Grumbling I complied, and watched in amazement as the device he held close to my hand seemed to shrink. You could see the metals shift on both objects a little before his gadget fully merged with my ring, the combined object now giving off a soft blue glow. "Ratchet! What did you do?"

"I combined the two. Now you can carry it and it will be shielded."

"You'll be able to fix it back, right?"

"Of course." He snorted. "It's insulting to think otherwise."

Meanwhile Jazz, with Donnie's help, was adjusting the receiver and Donnie's gadget as he hooked it up to Hide.

Finally satisfied, Donnie and Jazz and stepped back. "Well, give it a try. Let's see if this actually works as well as the theory sounded." Donnie said.

"How do I do this?" I asked, not sure how to proceed.

"Just think something, and see if Ironhide can receive the thought." Ratchet told me.

Sounded easy enough, I guess. _'Hide, can you hear me?'_

**-No need to shout, I can hear you just fine.- **Came right into my mind. This wasn't weird... nooooo not at all...

_'Well isn't this interesting.'_ came from Leo. _'If you keep your mind open to me, I can hear him too.'_

**-I can you as well, this is so much more convenient than babbling to you.-**

Oh, so he thinks we babble huh?

**-Yes, I do.-**

Leo laughed and I blushed a little in embarrassment, I really need to keep a lid on my thoughts I guess.

**-It would help-**

_'Will you stop!' _I glared up at him to see him grinning down at me.

Leo just laughed again before turning to the others. "It works."

"Well that takes care of that problem." Donnie said.

"That it does, now lets take care of the bigger one." And with that we started heading out. Raph fell into step beside me, trying to undo the big knotted mess Thane had made of his mask as Mikey stayed back to privately tell Caitlin bye. Funny enough, as much as he like to pick, pester and harass the rest of us. He was real sweet with her. I don't think she's gotten pranked once since she joined us.

I stepped outside the door, behind Raph as he walked, still trying to unfiddle his fiddled up mask and still grumping about it. We didn't get very far however when Raph suddenly dropped down into a hole that I could have sworn wasn't there earlier. With a startled exclaimed curse, he slipped out of my sight and hit the bottom.

After a stunned moment of silence there came the most high pitched, disgusted, full of fear, girly scream I have ever heard come from him. "Get 'em off! Get 'em off! _Get them OFF!_" came out of the hole next followed by some more girly squeals.

We all rushed over to the edge of this mysterious hole and peered inside to see the bottom covered in bugs. Lots and lots of bugs, mainly roaches. And Raph was in the middle of them all, hopping, slapping, stomping, you name the funky move, he was doing it. Never seen the big guy move like that, didn't know he could.

Another sound came rolling across the tarmac and I let my head follow it to the source to see none other than Sunny and Sides, laughing their mechanical asses off. Why was I not surprised...

By then Mikey had made it out to see what the commotion was about, and dropped to his own knees he began laughing so hard. Casey was laughing just about as hard.

Sunny however calmed as he noticed the youngest turtle come out. "I think we got the wrong terrapin." He told his still laughing brother. "Weren't we supposed to get the orange one?"

Sides was almost rolling with laughter. "I don't care!" He howled in glee. "It's funny! Do you hear the noise it's making? I didn't know an earth creature could reach that decibel." His vents were wheezing and his joints rattled he was laughing so hard. "I'm making this Jazz's ringtone!" Then came a funny backfiring noise from him. "I think I just blew a gasket!"

It was at this point Raph somehow had managed to grow some invisible wings or something, because he came flying out of that damn pit. He hit the tarmac, and after he made sure all the bugs were off, he caught sight of the wildly laughing Sideswipe, who was barely able to hold himself up he was laughing so hard. _"YOU!" _He thundered as he stomped across the tarmac towards them, more than likely intent on tearing them limb from limb.

"Scrap!" Sides finally sobered up. "Think I hear Prime calling! Gotta go!" Then they quickly transformed, and with smoke coming from their tires as they squealed against the pavement, sped off. Sides' laughter still echoing across the pavement.

"Well, I guess that answers the bug question." Cris told me as she shook her head. "He doesn't like them." Then she herself died laughing, and to be honest, so did I.

Even Leo couldn't keep a straight face as he watched his brother walk back over towards us, and Donnie had Marina pulled close to him to hide her chuckles, even as he tried to hold back his own laughter.

"Not a damn word out of any of you." Raph growled at us.

"Wouldn't dream of it Raph." Leo replied before he finally lost it. Not even his enormous self control could hold up to what he just saw.

We were saved by his wrath by the arrival of the plane that was supposed to fly us in. I have no idea where they scrounged the small thing up from, it sure wasn't military. It looked like those small planes that you usually see folks skydiving out of. And did anyone else know that Lennox could pilot on of those things? I sure as hell didn't.

Cris however narrowed her eyes at it. "Not the type of plane I was expecting."

"Makes sense." Donnie interrupted quickly. "I doubt they will target a civilian plane flying harmlessly overhead."

Her eyes narrowed even more, and I think Donnie realized he slipped up. "I thought the whole plan was for them to drop us off close to the base."

"It is."

"Then why would we need a civilian cover plane?"

"Extra precaution."

She wasn't buying it. She caught sight of our covered gear pile, and yanked off the tarp, and found the parachutes. "Oh, _hell_ fucking no! I am _not_ jumping out of a perfectly good airplane!"

"Nice job, brainiac." Raph mumbled to him as he finished tying his mask back on. "Cris, it's the only way to get in."

"I don't care if it's the only way to take a shit! I _ain't_ doing it!"

"Look, it will be fine. You'll be hooked up to me."

"Fuck you!" She spun towards him, and in doing so left herself wide open to Leo as he moved in from behind. "You know what you can do? You can take that goddamn 'chute and shove it so far up your-" We never did get to find out where she wanted him to shove it, because that was when Leo got a hit in on a pressure point and smoothly knocked her ass out.

"Took you long enough." Raph mumbled as she collapsed in his arms. "She was about to get into full voice." Then he carried her onto the plane as the rest of us began to load it up.

Ironhide had just stood there and quietly watched it all before he turned his attention to me.** -If all else fails, you can always annoy the Con's to surrender. That might actually work.-**

Once again Leo and I cracked up with laughter.


	7. Chapter 7

It was about the time we got the last of our gear secured when Optimus himself came over to talk with us. "Jazz has informed me that you have solved the communications issue."

Leo nodded up to the very large bot. "Yes, Ironhide will be serving as our go between. Again, I thank you for allowing us to use your technology. Seems merging ours and yours is working out, so far anyway."

"Let us hope that it continues to be to our advantage."

"It better, not much of a head start on 'em, but I'll take it." Raph said.

"You'll be there when we come out?" Leo asked.

"Of course we will be." Ironhide rumbled at him. "Jazz and Mirage are putting the final touches on the plan now, but we will be ready."

"Well, I guess there really isn't much left to discuss then. Good luck."

"You might need that more than we do." Hide told him with a grin. "You're the ones going in."

"Thanks for reminding me." Casey grumbled as he got on the plane. "Mikey, why did you invite me along for this one?"

"Cuz' this is like the most epic adventure ever bro!" Mikey followed him in.

The rest of us boarded and Epps closed the plane up and Lennox got it moving. We spent the flight time strapping everything we brought with us on, Raph taking on the chore of arming his still knocked out mate. "How long with that last?" I asked Leo as I pulled on a pair of black gloves to hide the soft glow of my ring. I didn't even want that tiny bit of light to give us away.

"Hopefully until we get our feet on the ground again." He grinned. "Otherwise it might be a noisy trip."

Once we had our weapons and gear strapped down so nothing would fly off and go on it's own flight path during the plummet, Epps grabbed a harness and shook it. "All right you whackjobs, time to strap up."

Man, the last time I had to wear this much crap was when I was in the service. I really didn't miss it. I would say I felt like a damn turtle, but that would insult the guys. Once Marina and I had our harnesses on we worked on getting Cris hooked up while Epps helped get the parachutes on the four turtles. That took a lot of adjusting and readjusting, especially for Raph. His large ass really wasn't what they had in mind when they invented parachutes. Casey was laughing his ass off at the grumbling Raph as he strapped his own 'chute on.

"You know how to use that thing?" Epps asked Casey a little doubtfully.

"Hey, I skydive on a regular basis. The set up is a little different, but I got this."

Epps just shrugged. "Don't ask me to scrape you up off of the ground if you fuck it up." Then he proceeded to instruct the turtles on how to deploy them, and I noticed Casey was listening too. Maybe he wasn't as sure as he thought he was.

Finally once he had drilled them all on how to use them he stepped back a bit. "You're going to have to go down fast and hard, speed is going to be essential so they don't catch you, keep your wind resistance to a minimum until it's time to pop that 'chute. Ladies, you will be strapped front first to them, try to hold onto them as tight as you can, again to keep the wind resistance down. Normally we don't do it this way, but this isn't a normal situation." Then he looked at Raph, then at Cris who was still passed the fuck out. "You might have your hands full with floppy there..."

"I'll deal with it." He sighed.

"Hook up!" Came from Lennox. "Reaching target in five!"

I took that as my cue to step in front of Leo. "Mmmm I could get used to this." I mumbled as he held me close so Epps could snap us together.

"I bet you could." Came his teasing smile, Epps just rolled his eyes and went to go hook Marina up then finally Cris. That was a bit amusing to watch Raph hold her limp form close to him while Epps was snapping and clicking away. Finally we all lowered the funny looking goggle thingies we had been given to protect our eyes from the wind, and bugs I'm guessing.

Now, I was perfectly fine with this whole skydiving idea. I mean, I've never really been one to be scared of heights. I've bunjee jumped before when I was a teen, even had to climb a few ropes up the sides of buildings when I was in the army. Repelled off of said building and once off of a high tower in basic training, during the confidence course run. I said confidence course, not obstacle. Big difference there. All with no problem. So you would think I would be fine with jumping out of a plane.

It wasn't until Epps opened that plane up, with us first inline to go out, that I was rapidly regretting my choice here. My eyes grew wide at all that emptiness between us and the ground, all that dark emptiness, and I began to tremble. I looked up to Leo as he had his gaze fixed on our target. "Leo...I...I...don't think I can-"

"Go!" Lennox snapped and Leo pushed us out of the plane before I could even finish, but I did anyway. "do thiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!" came out even as we began our freefall. I could of sworn I heard Epps laughing his ass off above me as I plummeted to my death...because I was sure we were gonna die.

Even as the others began following us out of the rapidly shrinking plane behind us, I clamped my arms around him, holding onto him for dear life. I was so glad I went to the damn bathroom before we left, otherwise I was sure I would have pissed myself. He did wrap his arms around me as we shot head down towards that big ass hunk of rock, pulling me close as he did. '_Easy, dear one. Just hold on_.'

_'Like I have a choice!' _I snapped back, before burying my head into his neck. I sure didn't want to look down anymore.

We weren't falling long when someone else decided to make her opinion known on the whole matter, again. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! _Fuck!_ You went and damn did it, didn't you! You went and threw my ass off of a perfectly fine plane! I so want to puke all over you right now, you know that!"

I pulled my head back a little so see Raph struggling to hold a now wide awake Cris against him, even as she was trying not to freak out, and failing miserably. He just laughed and finally overpowered her and pulled her close and she clung to him pretty much the same way I had Leo in a death grip. By now her fear had taken over and she literally just froze up in his arms, with his amused chuckles following us down.

**-And this is why I don't like flying.-** Was he laughing at me? Was that mechanical bastard actually _laughing_ at me? By now I knew Leo was, I could feel it in his body as I still clung to him.

Somehow during all of this, they managed to keep their aim straight and we were rapidly approaching our target when Donnie suddenly snapped "Now!"

Leo let me go as he flared his arms and legs out to bring us horizontal again, and once we were he pulled the cord and the 'chute snapped out and our fall slowed with a sudden jerk. The rest of the trip wasn't so bad, I have to admit, as we gently glided down to the top of the rock base we were aiming for. Leo brought us down softly, with the others landing all around us. Quickly they unhooked us and then themselves before the 'chutes had even made it all the way down to the rock.

Cris had immediately collapsed to her knees, still trembling, as soon as Raph unhooked her. He knelt down next to her, you could see the concern on his face as he took in her still trembling form, then chuckled a little as he noticed her more than slightly disheveled appearance, quite a bit of hair had escaped her braid and was now flying in all kinds of directions. I wonder if I looked just as messed up?

"You ok?" He asked her as she turned to glare at him, and he chuckled again. "Sorry babe, it was the on-"

That was about as far as he got when Cris hauled an arm back and then nailed him with a punch to the nose. "Who's laughing now, asshole!?" She snapped at him as he fell backwards, clearly not expecting that. Then she spun toward Leo. "You're next numbnuts!"

Mikey and Casey lost it as they both, for the second time this evening, collapsed in laughter.

"Well, I guess I deserved that." Raph said as he sat back up, rubbing his nose. Then he scowled over at the two giggle bugs. "Can it chuckleheads!" He snapped at them.

Leo had watched it all with wry amusement before he turned to me. "You going to hit me too?"

"Don't tempt me." I mumbled. "I'm still not altogether sure if I want to or not."

He laughed softly. "Let's go." He told the others. "We've already wasted enough time."

Quickly the 'chutes were wrapped up, then stored back into their packs so they wouldn't go flying off somewhere and give us away, then abandoned. We weren't going to need them again and there was no point in taking them with us. I just hope Lennox and Epps didn't expect to get them back.

"This way." Donnie said as he moved ahead of us. "That opening we are needing is on the south side."

"How far down is it?" Mikey asked as he trotted beside me.

"About fifty feet or so."

"Not to bad."

"Oh great," Cris mumbled "as if falling out of a plane wasn't bad enough, now I get to go down the side of a high ass rock."

"Yeah, but you can handle that."

"Mikey, did I ask you?"

"No."

"Then shut the hell up."

"Someone is in a pissy mood." Mikey muttered and Casey chuckled.

Donnie stopped at the drop off once we reached it after a decent run. This thing was huge, which was to be expected. It did house big alien robots in it after all. Still, I could only wonder as to what they were doing out here. I seriously doubted that they went through all the trouble to catch a bus load of people just because they wanted to.

**-We have been asking ourselves the same thing, but were too concerned with the humans' safety to be able to find out.-** Ironhide's voice came quietly in my mind.

_'If we have the opportunity, maybe we can.'_ Leo told him.

**-The humans are the priority.-**

'_Agreed my friend, but if we have the chance we will see what we can dig up. If not, then we will have to find answers another way_.'

**-We?-**

_'Of course, they managed to piss me off with this. And I fully intend to do something about it.'_

_'I thought we already were.' _I broke in_._

_'No, this is a rescue mission. The teaching them a lesson part comes later.'_

He was serious, dead serious. He fully intended to stay here and help them until he had personally figured out what the 'Cons were up too, and help put a stop to it. Looks like this trip might last longer than I had at first assumed.

Ironhide had also grown quiet, probably feeling the same shock I was. Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to stay for awhile longer. Our last encounter with the Autobots had been way too brief in my opinion and I really wanted to hang around with them more this time around, I just wasn't sure where we would fit in with the overall scheme of things after this adventure.

_'We'll worry about that later._' "Donnie, set the spike." He said then out loud.

Donnie nodded and pulled out a gadget I hadn't seen before. He calmly aimed it to the rock below our feet and shot a metal spike into the ground. The spike had a loop at one end where obviously you could thread a rope through, which is exactly what Raph did next. "New invention?" I asked the purple turtle as Raph finished tying the rope off.

"Not really. I've had it for awhile, just don't use it much."

"I can remember a time or two when it would have come in handy." Cris muttered.

"Didn't need it." He grinned at her. "You had us to help you along."

"Done." Raph said then and without another word Donnie took the lead down the rope.

One by one we followed him, Raph keeping a very close eye on Cris who refused to look down.

"Dammit!" Donnie snapped from underneath me. Now that's what you really want to hear as you dangle off of the side of a cliff.

"What?" Came the question from Leo.

"There is a grate covering the opening. Probably to keep birds out."

"Can you remove it?"

"No, but maybe I can cut a hole in it."

"Maybe?"

"You want to do this?" Donnie snapped up at him.

Leo just grumbled something under his breath but remained quiet.

There was a bright blue glow coming from under us, and the unmistakable sound of his portable welder firing up. Good lord...did he bring his whole fucking tool box? _'Yes, actually he did. Most of it anyway.'_ Came Leo's amused voice. I would have facepalmed if I wasn't dangling in the air.

There was a rattle of metal scraping against metal, then a loud clang. "Donnie!" Leo hissed a him.

"I'm sorry! Shit! You want to try doing this with one hand next time?" The rope twitched a little then Donnie's voice came back up to us. "I'm in. Come on down."

"You're the next contestant on 'The Price is Right!'" Do I really need to tell you who that came from?

"Mikey, seriously. Shut up!" Raph snapped at him.

We went down, and Donnie grabbed my arm as I was about to slip in. "Careful," he told me softly "the thing drops off into a steep slant just a few feet in. Don't need you to go on a slide ride." I nodded, then hugged the remaining part of the grate as I worked my way to the side to let Mikey in.

Once we all were in, we kinda looked down into that black pit a moment. Once down, there was no going back. I think we were all thinking that same thing at that moment. Did we really want to tangle with this mess? "Well, you only live once!" Mikey said, waaaay to cheerfully for my liking, and dove down into the hole, with Casey following right behind.

"Idiots." Raph mumbled before he went next.

I hesitated just a moment, quickly suppressing my own rising fear again, and then I followed him down. It was more that a little freaky sliding down that chute, it was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing not to mention the walls of the chute were lined with metal, so it seemed like I was going pretty fast as I slid down. And it was long, very long, and the farther down you got, the more the whole thing warmed up. It seems Jazz had been right, this was some kind of exhaust vent. I was actually starting to sweat a little by the time someone grabbed my hand to keep me from flying out the bottom of the thing and swung me upwards where another set of hands grabbed me. "Got her Mikey." Raph whispered and the first set turned me loose to catch the next one.

"Where are we?" I whispered to Raph, even as he caught Cris who came flying up next.

"On top of the rim of the chute opening." He quietly replied. "Very narrow, be careful how you move."

Donnie came up next. He quickly dropped his goggles over his eyes and looked around. "Oh boy." He mumbled.

"What?" I asked him.

"Well, this is indeed some kind of computer room. Probably for backup systems or something."

"Ok?"

"Bad new is I think we picked the wrong time to come in." He said as Marina came up next.

"Why?" God just spill the beans! Shit!

"Because it looks like they are in the middle of fixing the fan that is supposed to cover this opening." He pointed to the fan lying against the wall not far away. "A vent won't do you much good if you can't get the hot air out."

"You mean-"

"We gotta move." Leo hissed as he came flying up. "Now!"

That set us all into motion. Raph and Mikey again went down first, that was a long ass drop...and Cris and I went down right behind, to be caught by them and quickly moved to the side so Casey and Marina could come down next, then Leo and Donnie landed not far away. Just in time too, as the sound of a door somewhere opening rang out across the room.

I didn't even have time to process that thought as I was quickly grabbed by the arm by Mikey and drug across the room at a run. We followed Donnie, who was dragging Cris, behind one of the large machines just as a large robot walked into view. I shot a look at Cris and she just shrugged. She didn't know who it was either. **-It's a drone, a machine made with our technology but with no spark of it's own. They can be deadly, but are not very intelligent.- **Came the helpful answer.

Leo however was spitting silent curses after his own near silent chat with Donnie. The thing may be stupid, but it was also apparently blocking our only way out of this room. We were cornered.


	8. Chapter 8

***Author's note: OK, I do not take responsibility for this chapter if some weird crap pops up in here...I fully blame the cold medicine I'm taking :P. Sorry folks, been a little sick and my meds are whoopin' my behind, so I let Mikey take over writing for a while... you have been warned :D**

Will landed the plane at the previously designated spot, to find Jazz already waiting for them. Quickly Will and Epps grabbed their gear and shoved it into the self opening trunk before sliding into the small silver car. As soon as they were situated Jazz sent dust, rocks and dirt flying everywhere as his tires spun out before they were racing across the desert. "Did they make it in?" Epps asked as they sped along.

"Hide confirms that they did."

"No shit?" Epps replied, more than a little stunned. "You mean that macaroni idea actually worked?"

"Tha airdrop part. Still waitin' ta see if they can get them out."

"Got farther than I thought they would." Epps muttered. "You should have seen it, large turtles hooked up to drop gear. Funniest shit I've ever seen."

"How's phase two coming along?" Will asked.

"Done wit tha setup, Boss Bot has everone movin' into position now."

"I guess that includes us too." Epps mumbled.

"Ya know it."

"Wouldn't be the same without you, buddy." Will grinned at him.

Epps just snorted.

Will laughed a little, then directed his attention back to Jazz. "Any signs that they picked up on what we are doing?"

"Nothin'."

"Let's hope it stays that way." Will said quietly, a whole different set of worries running through his mind as Jazz sped to the meetup point.

.

.

To make our wonderful situation even better, a second drone had come in not long after the first one. Things were really not looking too bright for us right now.

"Quick!" Cris hissed at me. "Ask Hide what kind of battle programming they have?"

He was answering before she even finished. **-Basic battle programming is installed in all of them, but some have more advanced programming. Depending on what their function is when built.-**

Leo passed it along to Cris. "These are service drones right?" She then asked. "They wouldn't waste the time and effort to give them advanced programming, would they?"

**-No, but they would more than likely attack anyway, if attacked themselves.-**

Again Leo passed that along. "That's what I'm counting on." She mumbled. Then she dug around in Donnie's bag for something, ignoring his quiet complaints, and pulled out...a wrench? What the hell was she going to do with a wrench?

Before any of us could ask her she moved further along behind the machine we were hiding behind before she slipped out of sight.

The second drone was now almost right behind the first one, when said wrench came flying by it, to slam into the back of the head of the first one with a loud clang.

The response was immediate. The first one spun around and aimed something at the second one, who also raised up something to apparently defend itself. Then the room lit up with a blue light as the both fired something at each other and after the ear shattering impacts of whatever it was that they shot each other with, both now headless drones collapsed to the floor.

"Move!" Leo snapped at us once everything had calmed down. "That noise was more than likely enough to send someone looking into what happened!"

And move we did. We hauled ass as quick as we could past all the now damaged machinery and out the door that was still open, with Donnie stopping to pick up his wrench on the way. Cris caught up with us just as we paused to take a quick survey of the hallway.

"What on earth made you want to throw a wrench of all things?" Marina asked her.

Cris just shrugged. "Seems to work for Ratchet." Then she grinned. "Now I know why he likes doing it. That was kinda fun."

"You bent my wrench." Donnie grumbled at her.

"Boo hoo." She replied.

"We need to get out of the open." Leo interrupted them even as he was quickly looking around. The only thing any of us could find that would keep us out of plain sight were the massive long light fixtures running down the center of the hallway ceiling. "Looks like we go up."

This time it was Mikey who acted first as a grappling hook and rope came out of his own pack he carried. With a few twirls and a well placed throw, he managed to avoid the fixture itself and wrap the hook around the support bar that held it to the ceiling. Again single file we went up, and Mikey pulled up the rope behind us.

We ducked behind the rim as best we could as we heard voices coming from around a bend not far away, then two more figures appeared around the corner, walking towards the room we just left. One of them I knew right away was Starscream, and the only reason I remembered that was because I thought he looked like a damn Dorito when I first saw him in the movie. Looked like a Dorito here too. Doritohead should have been his name. I hereby dub thee...Doritohead...

I turned my head a little to see Leo giving me an amused look before shaking his head.

The other one I couldn't place right off the bat, hell to be honest they all looked the same to me, besides Doritohead and Megatron. Cris seemed to know who it was though, she looked at me, placed her finger over her mouth then pointed to her ring before mouthing, what I thought was "Soundwave."

Oh...fuck...I really hoped this shielding shit that they came up with worked as good in close quarters as it did at a distance.

They were babbling something in their own language as they entered the room we left behind, in pieces, and we all relaxed a little when they didn't notice us hanging above them.

As soon as they were out of our sight, but not out of Starscream's yelling range, he was obviously pissed, Raph pointed up to the conduits that ran across the ceiling. There was just barely enough room for us to move around up there, but it was all we needed. It didn't take us long to get up there then we quickly hightailed it away.

"Does anyone have a clue on where we need to go?" Casey asked as we came to a stop after a few minutes, at an intersection.

We all looked at Donnie. "Don't look at me, I don't know either." He sighed. "I might have been able to get some information out of their systems, if Cris hadn't blown the room to shit."

"Oops." She mumbled. "I forgot, it's only OK if Donnie does it."

He just glared at her.

**-Jazz informs me that their sensors are down. It appears that you may have damaged something important.-**

_'That might explain why Starscream was pitching a bitch fit.'_ I replied.

**-Very much why he was 'pitching a bitch fit.'-** Hide chuckled.

_'Could you understand what they were saying?' _Leo asked.

**-Yes.-**

_'Do they suspect anything?'_

**-No, they are assuming that the drones somehow malfunctioned.-**

_'Happens a lot?'_

**-Quite often actually.-**

_'It's so nice when __idiocy__ makes my job easier.'_

_-_**You still need to tread lightly around Soundwave himself, he is just as resourceful as Jazz. Blaster is the only one who can really outwit him and he isn't here.-**

_'Warning noted.'_

"So now what do we do?" I asked aloud.

"Somehow get the information we need, without letting the residential hacker know that we are."

"That's going to be tough to pull off, Leo." Cris told him. "Soundwave is no joke."

"So I've been told." He turned to Donnie. "Any ideas?"

"Several, but all of them come with their own potential risks."

"Ok, so what's the best way to figure this out?"

"Well, if you can't fight fire with fire, use water." Mikey spoke up. "If we can't use tech to find the hostages, then I guess it's time we went oldschool on them."

"I think he has a point." Donnie said thoughtfully. "From everything I can gather they rely heavily on their technology, both sides. Good ol' fashioned ninja stealth might be the only way to find them and remain undetected."

"Still doesn't explain on _where_ to find the hostages." Raph grumbled.

Leo's eyes had narrowed. "Those two that went into the room, how high ranking are they?"

"Pretty high up." Cris answered him. "Starscream is Megatron's second in command and Soundwave is pretty much as loyal to him as you can get. Which is why he is usually not far from his boss."

"So if we followed them, they would more than likely lead us to Megatron himself?"

"Eventually, yes."

"And he would in turn be right in the middle of things, right?"

Cris nodded. "He doesn't trust most of his underlings enough to let them out of his sight most of the time, especially when important shit is at stake. Where Prime delegates authority, Megatron has to micro manage. I almost guarantee you Soundwave was there to keep an eye on Starscream more than dealing with the repairs."

"Then, what are the odds of the hostages either being held near him, or he has some kind of constant visual on them?"

"Pretty good, considering the fact that he would be more than willing to do them in himself at the first sign of trouble, just to get under Prime's skin if for no other reason."

"We go back." Leo said suddenly "We go back and follow those two."

Raph just sighed as we went back the way we came. By the time we got back there were a few more drones, some carrying out the headless bodies and others fixing the damage in the room. "Where are they?" Casey whispered and Cris pointed inside the room. They were standing in the back, obviously arguing about something. Hey, there was a surprise, Starscream arguing with someone...

Finally after a few moments Soundwave turned and walked out, with Starscream's red eyes glaring after him before he followed. I wonder what happened there? Ironhide seemed to be occupied at the moment, or he was worried that too much of our babbling would tip Soundwave off, because he was quiet about it.

I didn't have time to dwell on it as Leo set us into motion behind the two baddys, their stomping more than covering any mild noises we made. I guess it was hard to walk quietly when you were that big.

We followed them through what felt like most of the damn base. It wasn't as easy as you would think it would be however. Quite a few times we had to come down from our hidden perch to scramble quickly across a hallway, or find a way down one of these huge as ramps. I guess they don't like stairs. Point is, we had some very nervous moments.

By now I was totally turned around and backwards on where exactly we were at in this shithole. All I could tell you for certain was that we were on a lower level. And it was cold. The further we went in, the cooler it got. I'm assuming it had something to do with the fact that we were so far in the sun couldn't heat the structure up this deep inside the rock. Wasn't going to risk us getting caught trying to ask Donnie about it though.

Finally they branched off from the main corridor they had been following and entered another door way. Leo looked like he was going to follow them in, but Cris held onto his arm as she shook her head no. He looked questionably at her for a moment, obviously wondering why she didn't want to go in.

Cris just pointed to something that she could see from where she was crouched, but I couldn't. I had to crawl forward on the conduit a little before I finally saw what she did. Not far inside the door, perched on a piece of pipe or something, was Laserbeak...well fuuuuck... The famed turtle luck was running true to form again.

_'Now what?'_ I silently asked.

'_I don't know!_' Came the frustrated answer. I decided to back off and give him time to figure it out.

We hid there for a few moments while Leo took everything in, barely even breathing. If that overgrown metallic chicken caught us that was the end of it and we all knew it. And he was sitting at just the right height to spot us if we weren't careful. Stupid bird. Why don't you go fly over to Doritohead and shit on him or something. Now that was a thought...do transformers even take shits?

_'Vicky, really, please not now...'_

_'Sorry...'_ I mumbled back.

I think we all jumped a little when he spread his wings before taking off to fly after his master. Cautiously Leo inched forward once again, signaling us all to stay put, so he could get a better look. _'It's another corridor. A short one. With a door on each side and the back end seems to open into a large area, maybe a hanger or large storage room.'_

I quickly whispered what he was seeing to the others. Then, to my horror, he then started to crawl further into that short corridor. By himself. _'What the hell are you doing?!_'

'_Hush you, we need to find out where the hostages are being kept. I intend to do just that.'_

_'Leo!'_

_'I said hush!_' Came one final time before he disappeared from my sight around the bend.

"Ima gonna kill him." I mumbled out loud.

Marina chuckled quietly. "Poor guy, if the Cons don't get him first, you will. Doesn't stand much of a chance to survive today, does he?"

"Not after I'm done with him he won't."

"Not so nice when the shoe is on the other foot, is it?" Raph whispered to me with a grin. "I remember him mumbling the same shit when you pulled some of your stunts."

I just glared at him, and he just kept grinning right back at me. "Just shut up." I finally told him, and he snorted quietly with laughter.

'_I found them_.' I shushed Raph into silence so I could hear him better. '_Start heading down the corridor we were following, I'll catch up as soon as I can.'_

_'What? Why not catch up now?'_

_'Because the damn door closed behind me. I'm stuck here.'_

_'You went _into_ the damn room?! With two of Megatron's top henchman in there? Are you nuts?'_

_'Actually, with three if you count Megatron himself.'_

_'Of all the Mikey like things you could have done...'_

_'Nobody is perfect. Go down that corridor until you reach the third door on your left. That's where they are being held.'_

_'Leo, if you get out of there in one piece, I'm going to cut you apart with your own damn katana.'_

_'Promises, promises... Move, now. I'll be fine, as long as they don't look behind the computer I'm hiding behind.'_

With a lot of dipshits, dumbasses and morons thrown in, I explained to the others what had happened, and what he found out.

"Then let's get on it." Raph growled as he took the lead.

"What about Leo?" Casey asked as we crept down the hall.

"Casey, Leo has been doing this shit when you were still playing little league, he'll be fine." I was the only one close enough to hear him mutter "I hope." at the end of that statement.

It didn't take us long to find the door we were looking for, but there was no way we could just walk in it. For one, the lock was out of our convenient reach and it looked electrical anyway, Donnie wasn't going to risk it. And the big fugly Con guarding it didn't help either.

"There has to be another way in there." I whispered in frustration. This was turning out to be a lot harder than I imagined it would. Which shouldn't have surprised me really, what part of 'invade enemy robot base to rescue a busload of folks' actually has easy stamped all over it? And did anyone come up with a plan to get us out of the base once we got them out?

'_Still working on that part.'_

_'You better work faster. It's going to get crunch time here real soon.'_

He didn't answer me, but I was too busy taking in Donnie's thoughtful expression to listen to him if he did anyway. "What's on your mind Donnie?"

"Well, we've been climbing around on these conduits for awhile now, but yet we still have no idea what's inside of them."

"Wires probably." Casey shrugged. "It's what is usually in them."

"True, but I'm wondering..."

"Wonder later." Raph told him. "We need to get into that room."

"Oh, that? I already figured that out."

The look Raph sent him could have melted rocks. "Well, please, oh enlightened one, would you mind sharing with us how?"

"I'll just cut a hole in the wall."

"With what?"

"My cutting torch. You did remember that I brought it with me right?"

Raph just facepalmed with a groan. "Still going to take some time and we need a secluded spot to do that."

"Which is why I was wondering what was inside of these conduits. If I can get inside it, I can move right up next to the wall and cut a hole."

"Let's find out then." Mikey said.

So we did. Carefully, so as not to alert the guard nearby, Mikey and Donnie undid a seam and pried it open. "I don't believe this." Donnie mumbled after he poked his head in.

"What?" I asked.

"I can't believe supposedly intelligent robots are this stupid. They just handed us our way out of here."

"What's in there?" Marina asked him.

"Not a damn thing, it's a ventilation system. Where do ventilation systems usually vent too?"

"Outside..." She replied, her eyes growing wide.

"Well, that was e-" I slapped my hand over Mikey's mouth before he could finish that thought.

"Shut up Mikey, or you'll jinx it." I growled at him. He just chuckled, but kept quiet.

"Now that we got that figured out," Leo said as he came up behind us "let's get in there and get them out. I think we are rapidly running out of time."

"How did you get out of the room?" I asked him.

"Simple, they left and I snuck back out behind them. It's the reason why they left that is concerning me. I think the hostages may have just outlived their usefulness."

Not needing to ask him anymore than that, we all slid into the conduit. Now wasn't the time for questions, now was the time for action.


	9. Chapter 9

"They've been in there awhile now." Epps muttered to his friend as they sat crouched down, waiting. "I hope that means nothing is going wrong."

"I'm sure if it did Hide would let us know." Was the response.

Epps just grunted. He wasn't used to the one providing the cover support, he was used to getting it. This wasn't really his thing, sitting here, waiting, and feeling helpless as he did. "I sure hope those guys are as good as everyone seems to think they are."

"Do you think Hide would have gone all the way to New York to get them if they weren't?"

Epps just grunted gain.

"What's with you? All of a sudden you are as grouchy as a bear that can't get to the honey." Will finally asked after a while of silence.

"I hate this shit." Epps snapped back. "I'm not good at waiting. Why I never play chess, sitting there for hours waiting for some dumbass motherfucker to figure out which piece goes where. No thank you."

"None the less, it is all we can do." Prime spoke up from where he knelt not far away, his eyes also fixed on the structure in the distance. "Wait, and hope that the ones we entrusted with this important task can see it through."

"Only problem is, the longer we wait, the more likely that the Cons figure out somethin' is up."

"Let them." Sideswipe grinned at him. "Been in need of some good Con bashing exercise. Sunny is starting to get a bit soft."

"Don't call me that." His twin snapped as he smacked Sides upside the head. "And I am _not_ getting soft."

"Are too, why else couldn't you hit the terrapin?"

Sunstreaker just glared at him, while Sideswipe just grinned back.

"Quiet you two!" Ironhide hissed at them. "I can't hear with all that incessant noise!"

"What's tha news?" Jazz asked him.

"They have found the humans, and may have found a means to get them out."

"Fucking turtles _are_ good." Epps had to mumble in admiration.

"They're not out yet." Will reminded him. "Still plenty of time for something to go wrong."

"Now who's Mr. Positive?" Epps asked him in return.

"Just being realistic." Will shrugged before looking up at Hide. "You know what they are trying to do?"

The big bot just nodded as he seemed to still be listening. "It seems they have found a fault in the Decepticon construction of the base. They will be using the ventilation systems to hide the movements."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Epps asked incredulously "That shit only works in the damn movies!"

"Where does it come out at?" Will ignored the fuming man next to him.

"They do not know."

"But Ah think Ah do." Jazz spoke up. "Been runnin' the files from tha previous scan in ma head, there is a small, to us, vent on tha east side. Mor'n'likely tha's where they gonna be poppin' out at."

"Then we are way out of position." Epps mumbled. "Not going to do them much good here on the south side."

"Adapt and overcome, Epps. Adapt and overcome. It's time to move." Will grinned at him as he got up. "I sure hope this crap you and Mirage came up with works Jazz, because we are about to put it to the test."

"'Course it'll work." Jazz almost sounded insulted at the hint of it not working even being suggested.

.

.

Sally had finally let herself fall into a fitful sleep. After over a day of being held like this, exhaustion finally won out over her need to stay awake. Most of the others were asleep as well, not really much else you could do here. They still hadn't been given any kind of food or water, nor any way to relieve themselves. There was now a designated area not far away from them just for that reason, and the smell was awful. But they were still alive.

Some of them were starting to give up on even that slim hope as they all huddled together to find what warmth they could. Try as they might, the wishful thinking of the door blowing in and the local S.W.A.T. team barging in was starting to lessen in everyone's conversations as their hopes dwindled like a candle flame running out of a wick to burn. Talks of going home were replaced by silence.

Sally knew that they weren't meant to live, if they had been the care would be considerably greater for them. But they didn't get that care. She just hoped that when the time came, that it would be swift. Then she had drifted off into the peace of sleep.

It was the odd noise above her that woke her up, a noise she knew was not normal for this room. Still not being able to see in the dark room, she chose to listen instead.

"Get your damn foot off of my hair, Casey!" A woman's voice whispered harshly from above. Sally sat up...what in the hell...

"Sorry." Came the mumbled reply. "I can't see shit in here, it's too dark. I don't have the nifty enhanced eyesight you have."

"Just help them hold the damn rope." The first voice mumbled back.

"Yeah, yeah...just hurry up, Cris."

Then there was the almost unhearable sound of feet hitting the floor nearby. Sally quickly got to her feet and moved carefully towards that sound, and she stumbled over a sleeping body that she couldn't see. Not one, but two sets of arms reached out and caught her as she fell forward.

"We got you." Came another woman's gentle voice. "Steady, we're here to help."

"Thank god." Sally whispered, relief filling her.

"Don't thank him just yet." The first woman said. "We still need to get out of this hell hole."

Another set of feet hit the ground, just as quiet as the first two. "How many are here?" The new female asked.

"Not sure, Vicky." Came the gentle voice. "Haven't had the chance to find out yet."

"Forty two." Sally replied.

"So, they brought all of you in here?"

"Yes, ma'am." Sally answered, still not really sure who she was talking too.

The voice in the darkness chuckled a little. "Just call me Vicky. Cris, Marina, start circling around and wake everyone up. It's time we got them out of here. Those stupid machines didn't take good care of them."

"Didn't expect them too, did you?"

"Not really, Cris...but still."

"Who ...are you?" Sally asked them, sofar as she knew no one else knew about the giant robots outside of a few in her section, and they were all men. "You're not S.W.A.T. or special forces...are you?"

"No, far from it actually." Vicky answered in the darkness.

"They are all awake, Vicky." Marina's voice came back a few minutes later. "Some of them aren't going to be able to climb that rope though, between being to run down and what looks like unattended glass cuts they are going to have a rough climb if they try."

"Alright, then we'll tie the rope around them and have Raph and Leo lift them up."

Sally did a double take, did...did she just hear those names right? Couldn't be...could it? She shook her head, maybe this was all just starting to get to her.

"You ok, hun?" Cris asked her.

"Yeah...I'm...fine. Just a little overwhelmed I guess."

"You go up first."

"No, let some of these others go. I'll stay down here and help you with them."

"Suit yourself." She felt the other woman shrug in the darkness.

One by one the women helped get the others up. It was slow going, and the three rescuers were obviously more than a little nervous about the pace right now. "Come on, all it's going to take is for one of them to walk in here and the gig is up." Cris muttered as they were nearing the end of the line. Most of the able ones had already climbed up, and the slower process of lifting the more unable individuals had begun.

"Going as fast as we can Cris." Marina mumbled back. "We knew this would take time from the beginning."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"At least we don't have to crawl through the conduit." Vicky spoke up. "That's a plus."

"Not a very big one." Cris replied as they sent the last one up with a tug on the rope. "Still gonna have to hunch over in there. I'm going to come out there looking like Quasimodo or some shit."

"Just think of how poor Raph and Donnie must feel." Sally could hear the grin in Vicky's voice. "They are taller than the rest of us."

Again, the names shook her to her core, that was now three out of the four...it had to be them...

"Your turn." Vicky now addressed her, placing the rope in her hand that had just came back down. "Go, we'll be right behind you."

Sally didn't argue this time as she went up. Normally ropes were easy for her, but not tonight it seemed. The ordeal had just taken to much out of her. She was almost to the top when she felt herself starting to slip and with a quiet moan of pain as the rope burned her hand she began to slide back down.

Suddenly a hand came out of the darkness and caught her wrist in a gentle, but firm grip. "I got you." Sally's eyes grew wide in the darkness as she was lifted up and set down on a surface she couldn't see. There was no mistaking it...it _was_ them...

"Leo..." She let out in an almost breathless whisper.

Then stunned silence that came back confirmed her suspicions.

"How in the hell does she know you?" Vicky asked stunned as she came up.

"Fifteen years ago, in the sewers, they pulled me out of the water..." Sally said quietly.

"Sally? Little Sally?" Mikey's voice came back.

"All grown up it seems, and still getting into trouble." Leo replied in a strained sounding voice.

"I'll be a son of a..." Raph mumbled.

"Small world it seems." Came Donnie's voice next.

"Hey! Move your big ass out of the way, Vicky! Some of us are still dangling here!" Cris snapped from below still.

"Sorry." Vicky mumbled back and Sally felt her climb the rest of the way in, followed shortly by the two others.

"As much as I would love to find out how you ended up in this mess, we don't have time." Leo told Sally. "Donnie, close that hole up. Maybe it will buy us some time if they can't figure out where they went off to right off of the bat. Raph, Casey, take the lead. Have them all hold onto the rope and use that to guide them out."

"Sure, as soon as you tell me which way is out." Raph grumbled in that voice she remembered.

"Not the way we came."

"Smartass."

"Just go that way, follow the flow of the air current. It will eventually lead you to an outside opening." Donnie's voice cut through the darkness.

"If we get lost, ima seriously hurt you two." Raph grouched as he and Casey moved away before telling everyone to keep a hold of the rope as he worked his way to the front.

"Here," Sally heard Marina say as she felt the rope being pressed into her hand "hold onto this. The rest of us will follow behind."

They began to travel shortly after that. Donnie soon caught up with them and informed Leo that the panel was now back in place.

"Good, I hope it at least buys us some time." Leo answered.

Even though they had by now moved quite a distance away from the room they had been held in, they could still hear the angry screams and yelling and alarms going off.

"And I think we just ran out of it." Cris mumbled.

"I hope we find the way out soon, or we are all screwed." Vicky said quietly.

"You and me both, dear one. Donnie, Marina, go up ahead and warn everyone that we are going to have to pick up the pace."

Neither answered him but Sally felt them move forward. "Leo, that's going to make enough noise to attract attention to us up here." Vicky told him worried.

"I know, but it's a gamble we have to take. We are out of time."

.

.

We hurried these poor folks along ahead of us, pushing them as fast as they could go. Which wasn't near as fast as we were needing. As it was they were having a hard time with this, more than one being supported by others as we all stumbled along.

The racket we were causing was nothing compared to what was going on in the base. Alarms going off, orders being bellowed, the stomping sounds of large feet moving around the base, all somehow managed to cover our own noises as we hurried along. Once again, Con stupidity was covering our tracks, for now.

It wouldn't take them long to figure this out though, two of them at least had a decent brain in their noggins, and all it would take was for Megatron and Soundwave to get a good look in that room. I was hoping they wouldn't, but wouldn't be surprised if they did.

We kept moving, trying to calm the now scared to death hostages. Leo had to keep reminding them, firmly but quietly, that we hadn't been found yet and that moving was the only way to get out of here. Eventually his patience prevailed and they began to settle back down again as Raph and Donnie led us to what we hoped would be the way out.

"This isn't going to last much longer." Cris told Leo as we once again began ushering hostages ahead of us. "They are about to snap."

"I'm surprised they haven't yet." I mumbled to her.

"I think that's only because they didn't get a good look at what's trying to kill them." She mumbled back.

"Just keep moving." Leo told us.

Sally had stumbled in front of us, obviously the combination of it being dark as shit in here and her own weariness getting to her, and once again Leo reached out to catch her just as I did. I could feel the poor woman trembling in my arms as Leo and I held her steady even while we kept pace with the others. "Hang on, Sally. Just bear with us a little while longer." I told her softly.

I had to admit, curiosity was seriously trying to kill the cat in my head as I wondered about this girl. They seemed to know each other, somehow. But that wasn't a story I had been told. Of course I'm sure there were plenty of stories from their past I hadn't been told, but so far this seemed to be the only untold one that jumped right back to the front of the line of memory lane.

I could sense Mikey moving in from behind us where he was keeping rear watch. "Leo, I think they got something in these conduit lines looking for us." He told the eldest quietly. Even as quiet as he was about it, Sally still tensed up in my arms as he spoke.

"Dammit..." Leo muttered before he and Mikey went back the way we came.

I didn't pay them any mind, concentrating my attention on Sally as Cris moved in to take her other side now that Leo had gone. "Don't worry about it. You just keep moving forward." I told her as I got a better grip on her. "Talk to me, how do you know the guys?" Yeah...that curiosity thing pestered me to ask that specific question...

So she told us on how she had ran into, or should I say been swept into?, them when she was a child. My own history flared back to life a moment as she recounted her foster father episode that caused her to run away in the first place, and I seriously hoped the guys stomped the hell outta that asswipe, or I would go back and do it myself. Sally had gotten to the point of telling us how the bus got yanked when Marina came back down the line to inform us that Donnie had finally found the vent that led outside and I had to seriously fight the urge to jump up in this cramped space and holler "Yippie!" at the top of my damn lungs. I chose instead to answer her question on where Leo and Mikey had disappeared too.

Cris had remained quiet during that brief exchange and when Marina left she once again turned her focus on the woman we were supporting. "So, your name is Sally Lennox?"

"Yes." Came the tired reply.

"And you were on the bus to the Military base near here to visit your cousin who is stationed there, right?"

"Yes."

"His name wouldn't happen to be Will, would it?" Oh snap... My eyes grew just a tad bit as I heard her ask that. It didn't even click with me the first time.

"How...how did you know?"

"Oh...fuck..." I mumbled. "Somebody has some serious explaining to do..."

"That he does." Leo said as he and his brother rejoined us. "Hurry, we blocked off the section leading this way, but it won't hold them back for long."

There was now a vibration running along the conduits we were following, just as we caught up with the others, whom Casey was already helping down. Apparently Donnie and Raph had already opened it up, set a new spike and rope and were now out of sight as the hostages were being lowered. Mikey and Leo also held back from the dim light coming in from the now opened vent cover. Marina was also missing but Casey quickly informed Cris and I that she was at the bottom helping them down. I took a moment to peek out myself, that was a little bit of a ways down, about thirty feet or so. I almost fell out as the whole thing shook again.

'_Hurry, get them down!_' Leo's voice came at me out of nowhere, urgency pushing his tone into a nonverbal shout. '_They are taking the damn ventilation system apart!'_

"Sonofabitch!" I snapped under my breath. I looked over the night horizon, searching for any kind of help. But there was nothing there. '_Hide! Buddy! If you are listening, it's getting a little on the close side over here!_' Go figure...no answer...

Again the able ones went down first, thank god there were less for us to carry down this time. Going down was always less of a strain on the system than going up, but there were still a few we had to help down. Casey hooked up another rope and Cris and I started taking turns helping them down, one going up one rope while the other went down with a load until finally they were all out.

_'Leo! We're clear!_' I called out as Casey hit the ground next to me.

_'Get them away from here!'_

_'What about you guys?'_

_'We are on the way out now, go!'_

"Get moving!" I snapped at the confused humans as they just stared at us. "We aren't out of the woods yet!"

Marina grabbed the hand of a scared to death teen and drug the girl along behind her as she began to lead them out into the desert. Cris, Casey and I rounded the rest of them up and guided them to follow her out. We were still moving so slow, too god damn slow!

There was a quick sounds of a few rapid explosions going off in the vent we had just left behind and I turned to look just long enough to see the unmistakable outlines of the guys tumbling out of the vent in controlled falls, just as the whole thing went up. They hit the ground in rolls and were right back up on their feet again, following us out.

But I wasn't sure how far we would all exactly get. The metallic forms starting to gather around us was a fair indication that we had finally been found out. I had to seriously have a mental battle with my fear as a well known, and well hated voice rang out into the night. "Decepticons! Crush them all!" Megatron...

They started to move in on us, the smaller forms of Laserbeak and Ravage leading the way in the sky and on the ground respectively. I just ground my teeth together, and ran on. It was all I could do. That and hope for a damn miracle.


	10. Chapter 10

We ran. The poor, exhausted folks in front of us stumbling and tripping in the desert terrain that seemed to do it's own part to slow us down. All around us in the darkness there was the sound of heavy footsteps coming closer, and the unmistakable sounds of weapons being charged and loaded before those telltale glows informed us that we were the targets.

Still, we kept them moving, refusing to give up, or let them give up. There was still hope out here in the desert, we just had to find it.

"Come on guys...where are you." I whispered as I once again helped someone to their feet before pushing them on. My eyes were now constantly scanning the horizon, trying to find what we were so desperately looking for. "Where are you?" I whispered again as the turtles behind us were trying to draw the fire away from us that was now starting to come in, with earth rumbling impacts. Rocks, dust and dirt were scattering all over the place now, confusing matters even more as we struggled along.

**-We are here.-** Came Ironhide's welcome voice from the darkness. I had to hold back the shout of joy that almost came to my lips. I heard him, didn't mean he was there where he could help.

Then my ears heard what my eyes couldn't see, the unmistakable rumble of engines racing across the dusty desert soil. I kept my eyes glued to the sound, trying to find them, but I couldn't.

_'Where?'_

**-Here.-** Then, as if some kind of large night time curtain had been lifted, the air not far in front of us seemed to shimmer for a moment, the effect casting it's own strange light, before it stopped and the seemingly empty space in front of us was suddenly covered in vehicles, their headlights blinding as they roared towards us. The elaborate shield Jazz and Mirage had set up to disguise our retrieval had apparently worked, very well, so well I had no idea they were there until the engine noise gave them away.

Marina stopped her leading advance as they swiftly descended on us, and there were quite a few alarmed shouts and cries from the hostages from fear of being run over. Before they got close enough to harm us, they branched out into two groups and with the ease of control from being the vehicle instead of driving them, they sped past us and continued on towards the the commotion quickly catching up to us from behind.

Almost as one they seemed to each target a Con, then leapt from their vehicle forms into their bi-pedal ones and there were several more earth trembles as more than one pair slammed into the ground. Then the night flared up around us as shot after shot was fired, some hitting their mark, some not. But all causing me to look on with eyeballs that were about to pop out of my damn head. Transformer fights sure are a lot more rough and tumble than ninja turtle fights...

Another wave of vehicles had by now made it's way to us, and they had pulled to a stop, surrounding us with their weapons pointed and firing at the Cons behind us before a very heavily armoured transport vehicle pulled to a stop in front of us.

"Sorry for the delay!" Epps hollered as he hopped out of the back. "Had to reposition ourselves."

"Couldn't have cut it any closer could you!" Cris snapped back at him.

"Aw...we made it in time." He grinned back at her.

"Barely." Marina told him with a raised eyebrow. "Where is your partner in crime?"

"He's out there, flanking them to keep their attention away from us. Get those folks in the damn truck!" Epps then shouted to his men. "Then get them the hell out of here!"

We began to usher the now terrified people onto the back of the truck and into the hands of waiting troops, most of them medics, who then pulled them as far forward as they could go. With the help of Epps and his men it went a lot swifter than the whole vent situation, but we still weren't fast enough.

With a metallic growl, Ravage came barreling in just as we were about to lift Sally into the truck, once again she had insisted on letting the others get in first. We were knocked back quite a distance away from the truck, but I somehow managed to keep my grip on her as I shielded her landing like the turtles have done for me so many times in the past.

Ravage seemed not to pay us any attention though as his one eyed gaze was fixed on the helpless humans in the back of the truck. No, no, no, no, NO! was going off in my head as I tried to untangle myself from Sally to try and get to him before he sprung. I'd be _damned_ if we got this far to lose them now!

"Here kitty kitty!" Mikey was saying as he crashed into Ravage, wrapping his arms around the thing's neck and then managed to fling him away from the truck. "I think you are confused kitty cat. The litterbox is out there." He teased the now hissing Ravage before he set himself to again meet the metal panther who was stalking back in.

Once again the cat leapt and again Mikey met him head on, somehow avoiding the swiping paws and clinging onto his back as they slammed into the ground. He took a hold of the cat's head with one hand and then began to repeatedly slam it into the ground with such force that you wouldn't guess was packed into that small frame of his. "Get that truck out of here!" He screamed at Epps as he struggled with the robot.

"We don't have all of you on it!"

"No more time, dude! They need to go!"

"Dammit all to hell..." Epps muttered, but did yell at the driver to get that hunk of tin moving.

"What about us?" Sally whispered to me, her eyes watching the truck as it drove away, then vanished, again shielded from us and the Cons.

"Stay close." Was all I told her, didn't think much more would compute with her right now anyway, she was obviously having a hard enough time dealing with a disappearing truck on top of everything else. "Thank you Jazz and Mirage." I mumbled as Ravage, now furious at the loss of his intended target, managed to twist his head around and clamp his teeth down on Mikey's arm then flung him off after giving him a couple good shakes. Mikey slammed to the ground not far from where I was huddled with Sally and she got her first good look at one of her twice saviors, even as he was groaning, and bleeding heavily out of his arm wounds.

"Fucking Cons!" I snapped as I tried to get to him, only to have to duck back as shots were fired at me from above. Son of a fucking_ bitch! _God damn these fucking, animal wannabe, pain in my ass Cons! I was furious as Laserbeak swept by overhead, to circle around for another pass, even as Ravage was still stalking in. Well, fuck both of them, I was going to get to Mikey if it killed me.

'_Don't worry about these two, get to him._' Even as that reassuring presence made himself known that he was near, Donnie slammed into Ravage as Leo flew over me to take on Laserbeak in midair. The cause of his unusually high flight path became clear once Raph emerged out of the darkness Leo came flying out of, to catch the cat Donnie once again sent flying. Leo had by now met the bird contraption headon, and was throwing him off with the extra weight. Laserbeak struggled to stay in the air with the large turtle hanging off of him.

By now I had made it to Mikey, with Sally by my side. Aww...shit...his arm was mangled pretty bad. I had to stop the bleeding but I didn't have anything on me to do so. "Donnie!" I screamed over the commotion of Raph throwing Ravage towards Laserbeak, and Leo letting his target go just before the two collided in mid air. "Please tell me you packed medical supplies!"

"Of course I did." He calmly replied as he suddenly appeared next to me.

"How are we going to get him out of here?" I asked frustrated, looking around at the continued devastation taking place around us. There were fights going on everywhere it seemed. My eyes caught sight of Prime taking on Megatron himself, right as his axe cut deep into the evil leader's shoulder, almost taking the arm off as Megatron tried to pull out of his reach. Prime didn't let up though as he followed that axe swing with a few solid punches to his mechanical gut. Bumblebee was near him, making sure that none of the numerous drones out there would get close enough to harm his leader. The Arcee triplets were almost flying across the ground they were moving so swift, taking on another group of drones before a blast roared into their midst from above, scattering them in three different directions, they got right back up again and kept at it, even as Sunny swung Sides up into the air to take on the jet who was flying overhead. With a "Jetjudo time!" he flew up towards the jet, blades out and ready, and used one of his blades to anchor himself onto the Con's form before swinging himself on top of it, then they flew out of my sight into the darkness. Jolt had his whips out and lashed them onto the feet of another drone, then pulled those feet out from under it as Jazz tackled it to help it along on it's fall. And on top of all this, and more, you had Lennox and his men moving around out there shooting at which ever bad robot seemed to need it most at the time. "No one has the time to come help..."

"Easy Vic," Raph told me as he and Leo joined us "We'll get him out."

"I seriously doubt that, you disgusting thing." Starscream growled as he dropped down in front of us, weapon already aimed at us. "Now you will perish, all of you."

Well, there was no denying that right now, he had us. I clung to Leo as the large weapon charged up and Leo held me just as close, even as he glared up defiantly at the large robot who was about to make us all just a memory.

_"NO!"_ I heard Cris' anguished scream from where she was still standing with Epps. His soldiers had already turned their weapons to fire at the large Con, but we all knew it would be too late. He'd easily get a shot off before they did.

What none of us was expecting to happen did at that moment. They moved so fast they seemed to come out of nowhere, from two different sides. There was a sudden blue glow reflecting off of a silver body as a blade lit up the darkness when Sides came dropping down from above, the Con he had been fighting in the air crashed to the ground not far away shortly after. He smoothly cut through the arm that had the weapon pointed at us, sending a shower of sparks, metal parts and energon flying everywhere. Not yet done with Megatron's second in command, Sides then launched himself in the air bringing a silver leg around and kicked Starscream away from us. I blinked in shock a few moments, that was...well...more ninja than transformer, was not really expecting that from him.

In a rage fueled rush, uncommon for the usually cowardly robot, he moved back in again only to get shot several times in rapid succession as Sunny finally joined his twin in taking Screamer down.

Now with his cowardice finally kicking in, the large, now missing half an arm Con scrambled to get out of there, somehow still being able to transform into a jet and flying off.

Thrilled at the thought of still being alive after that close call, my big mouth decided to push it's luck. "Yeah! Take that Doritohead! Go crawl back to that damn potato field you crawled out of!"

I looked back to see four very amused turtle faces looking at me. "Doritohead?" Mikey chuckled weakly. "Hey Sides! Looks like you caught the hang of that kick I showed you."

"It's surprisingly effective." Sides grinned down at him.

"I was wondering how he learned that." Leo mumbled.

"Look out!" Epps screamed and this time the twins joined us as we all ducked for cover, just as another blast went roaring over our heads.

"Oh come on!" Raph snapped as he covered Mikey with his body.

"Now who's shooting at us?" I griped in frustration.

"Decepticons." Sides' very unhelpfully informed me.

"I know that you big twit! Which one!"

"Take your pick, there's quite a few out there."

"Guys, we are sitting ducks here!" Donnie interrupted us. "There is nowhere to hide in this open terrain!"

"Then maybe it's time we stopped trying to hide, and go seek." Leo firmly said as he stood back up.

"Leo...what are you doing?" I asked him.

"What I always do, protect my family." He replied, then took off, leaving me sitting there with my mouth gaping open like an idiot as he rushed the group of Cons who were trying to use us for target pratice. Would you believe Raph actually followed him into that mess? Sunny and Sides looked a little shocked themselves as they exchanged quick glances, then they too were gone. '_You get back here right now!_' I screamed at my mate. _'There are too many for you to take on!' _I could hear Cris screaming something similar to Raph, to get the same results I was...them not listening to a damn word that was being yelled at them.

**-Allow us to even the odds in their favor-** Ironhide rumbled in my head even as he, Bee and Jazz raced passed us and onward, conveniently running over Ravage as he chose the wrong time to make his reappearance before quickly catching up to the figures rushing towards the Cons.

I could only watch as they all unflinching took the fight to the pocket of robots that tried to do us in. I had no idea what on earth Leo and Raph could do against those large things, but they seemed determined to try. Even as Ironhide caught up even with them they effortlessly lept onto him as he kept speeding and now dodging towards his target as he avoided incoming fire. Then he slammed on the brakes suddenly and his back end swung around, launching the two turtles into the air towards the Con he had picked out to mangle. Still Hide's back end kept it's swing around, crashing into the legs just as Leo and Raph managed to find a hold onto the large thing then scrambled up towards the head. As the Con toppled over, Leo and Raph were already at work, both of them lifting their weapons of choice up, before plunging them down into those red orbs. Even from here the cries of pain and rage made me wince more than a little, before Hide was able to come up and put it out of it's pain and misery with a single well placed blast, right into the spark chamber.

Bee and Jazz had by now took on a second and the twins were already working on a third. Those fights were hard, brutal and just downright deadly. There was no taking hostages here, for either side, and no mercy was being shown to those Cons. With seemingly disregard to their own personal safety the Autobots tore into them with a fury fueled by countless years of war. Not coming out of it unscathed either, again I found myself wincing as a Con got a particular nasty hit in on Sides. Still, even with his arm now holding his wounded side, the silver Autobot was still more than up to the task of finishing his foe off. As he proved when again his blue blade met enemy metal, this time to come ripping out of it's back even as Sunny literally blew it's head to bits.

My attention was then drawn from the fight, somewhat gladly honestly, by the sound of vehicles approaching. Epps was moving towards us with his men, and apparently Lennox had joined up with him. Pretty soon Donnie had more help than he really needed, or wanted. I could feel his frustration as he was surrounded by folks he didn't know, or trust. I didn't want all those folks around them either. "Get away from him!" Donnie actually snapped at one persistent individual who kept trying to help.

"Easy, Don." Epps tried to calm him down. "You can trust these guys, been working with them for years. They won't hurt you, or him."

Donnie was eyeing them all with more than a little suspicion, and anger. I had a feeling he was about to open a can of whoopass if they didn't back the fuck up away from Mikey.

"Please...sir." The young medic who refused to leave spoke up suddenly. "I saw what he, you, went through to help those hostages. The least I can do is return the favor, by helping him. I don't care what you look like, it's your actions that proved your worth to me."

There was a murmur of agreement among the rest of the gathered troops, and a now slightly stunned with gratitude Donnie was struck speechless. When the Medic moved in to help again, Donnie let him this time. "Told you they were fine." Epps grinned at him.

"Sally!" Lennox's voice suddenly rang out and his men made way for him, before they got shoved out of the way.

"Will?" She spun to the voice, then found the owner. "Will!" was all she could get out before he had her crushed in a bearhug.

"God I'm so glad you're ok..." He said as he held her close.

"Um...not to be the one to break up this touching moment." Cris broke up the touching moment. "But should we be doing this right here, right now? I mean we are in the middle of a battle and all."

"You might want to recheck that." Marina told her with a slight smirk as she spun her friend around. "Nothing really left to blow up here anymore." She finished as Jazz and Ironhide finished up the last of the Cons they were working on, and Prime, Jolt, Mirage and the others had the rest of the Cons on the run, and the desert surrounding us was littered with drones, and a few Con bodies.

"Well, god dammit...I didn't even get to bash a single Con's head in..." She mumbled.

I however, was awaiting the return of a certain turtle, and I glared out across the desert as he and his partners in crime made their way back to us. "You!" I finally bellowed when he was close enough. "You spent the last four years trying to pound into _my_ head not to do that kinda a shit, then you turn around and do it your _damn_ self!"

At least he had the decency to look a little sheepish about that fact. "Your bad influence is rubbing off on me?"

"Don't try and get cute with me!" I flared at him as he walked in closer. "Do you have any idea what could have gone-"

And that was about as far as I got when he pulled me close to him, and brought his lips to mine in a hard kiss, completely ignoring the amused chuckles now coming in from all around us. "I'm sorry." He told me softly when he finally pulled away.

I just stared up into his wonderful blue eyes, my anger melting away. Finally I just gave up trying to be mad at him. "Yeah, well, don't do it again."

"No promises." He smiled back down at me, before pulling me into a hug.

"Hmm..." Raph said thoughtfully as he eyed Cris.

"Don't even try that stunt, meathead, or I'll deck you again." She snapped at him and Casey bust out laughing.

"How's Mikey?" Leo asked Donnie as he knelt down next to him.

"Just peachy bro..." Mikey weakly told him, with a grin.

"Stable, for now. We need to get him back soon. He's lost a lot of blood and that arm needs more care than I can give out here."

"I think that's our cue to go." Lennox said. "Load him up and let's get ready to roll."

"Those of you who can roll." Epps muttered as he looked over the battered Autobots. "Ratchet is going to have a damn field day with you guys." More than one bot winced at that threat.

This time it was Raph and Leo who watched in stunned amazement as their little brother was carefully and with obvious great concern loaded up into one of the few medic trucks that had pulled in. I kinda felt for them a little, so long they had hidden from humans because of what they were and the fear of what would be done to them, that they didn't really know how to handle the feelings of the soldiers towards them now. They weren't the 'strange things that lived in the sewers' here among this group, they were now 'just one of the guys' and they didn't have to hide. I actually caught Leo blinking away a tear or two.

Then Prime pulled up with his trailer that had been stashed out in the desert and the autobusted Autobots were loaded in, Sides, Mudflap, and one of the Arcee triplets, don't ask me which one, I always get confused on who is who with those three. The rest of them had dings, dents and a few rattly parts, but they still could transform on their own.

There was a quick discussion on who was going to ride with who on the way back, which was in itself kinda amusing.

"Hey! Ya'll hot chicks wanna ride wit me?" Skids asked.

"Hell, naw dey ain't gonna ride wit you, dummy! Why would dey want to?" Came his twin's reply from the back of the trailer.

"Who ya callin a dummy! You iz da one all busted up, moron!"

"Come here an' say dat to ma face stupid!" At that point Prime closed up the back of his trailer, but not before the clang of an annoyed Sideswipe's fist meeting annoying tiny twin head rang out into the night.

Cris just rolled her eyes at it all, with a grin, when Sunny pulled up next to her. Without a word his door swung open and she just stared at him in shock. "Sunny?"

"Don't call me that!" He snapped at her. "You may ride with me if you wish."

"But I'm all dirty and I thought you didn't like humans riding in you..."

"I don't."

"Then why-"

"Just get in you blasted femme!"

She looked at Raph a moment, who just shrugged, before she hesitantly slipped inside the car like she was expecting him to kick her right back out again or something. Once she was in they were again shocked to hear what he had to say. "You too reptile, get in."

"Oh no, I think I'll pass."

"Get in." The car growled at him.

"Sunny, why?" A confused Cris asked him. "I know how much you hate doing this."

The reply was so quiet that I almost didn't catch it. "Because I lost the bet." He sounded embarrassed about the fact, so much so he let the 'Sunny' slide without complaint.

"What bet?" She asked even as we heard Sideswipe's muffled laughter coming from the trailer.

"Sideswipe and I made a bet on if you would survive. I bet you wouldn't, and for losing that bet I now have to transport you back. Now get in or I will throw your fraggin' aft in!" He snapped at Raph who finally conceded with a sigh and somehow managed to squeeze his large frame into the vehicle.

Another squeezing effect was taking place as Donnie tried to fit his tall frame into Jazz with Marina. But Jazz seemed willing enough to at least adjust the seat for him to make it easier.

Unfortunately, Hide was too banged up for me to ride with him. He could roll, but barely. I was more than a little disappointed by that fact, he was my favorite transformer afterall. I sighed as I began to look around for my own way back, I needed to hurry too. Prime was already turning around and on the move. I suppose I could ask Bee, I liked him almost as much as Hide, but haven't spent enough time with him to feel comfortable asking him. Not that he would have said no...but still.

I was about to walk over to him when Ironhide told me, and Leo, to stand firm a moment. Exchanging quick glances we did, and was a little shocked as the semi rolled to a stop next to us and the door opened. "Please, it would be my pleasure to return you to the base. There are some things still needing to be discussed this night, and this may provide the perfect opportunity to do so without distractions."

Yeah, I had to bite down the excited girly squeal that threatened to come bubbling out as I almost flew up into the waiting cab. Chuckling himself at my little girl excitement Leo followed me up. Sure I loved Hide, but this was Optimus Prime here...how could you_ not_ be excited about riding in him? It was another dream come true for me as I sat happily in the seat as he moved forward again, grinning like a damn idiot.


	11. Chapter 11

I was waiting for the question already before he asked it, both of us having gone through this routine so many times that it was pretty much an unconscious afterthought. "You ok?" He asked as he snuggled me close to him. For some reason he was needing me close to him tonight as we rode along, so he had me placed firmly in his lap and fussed at me everytime I tried to move to the other seat. Good thing Prime's cab was more than spacious enough to let him get away with it.

"Just a few bumps and bruises." I replied, laying my head on his shoulder. Truth be told I really didn't mind sitting like this, it was actually a little soothing to be so close to him, after that near heart attack he gave me earlier. I would say I was enjoying the alone time, but we weren't exactly alone. "Optimus, just out of curiosity, what's going to happen to that base now?"

"Even now we are determining if there is any information to be gathered from it, then it will be destroyed." He calmly told me.

"Gonna be a big boom." I said with a smile. "And poor Donnie is going to miss out on it."

"I do believe Jazz is going to play him a live feed of it."

I laughed, for some reason Donnie's love for explosions never got old. I think I had figured out why he does it though. He was normally so calm, reserved, shy even if you will, that he never really calls attention to himself the way the others do. I mean, think about it. Mikey is always acting out, and Raph too to a lesser degree. Both of them always had some kind of attention being drawn to them with their pranks and retaliations to pranks. Then you have Leo, the one who pretty much is almost always in the spot light. Donnie however was more in the background if you really took the time to actually notice. He was almost invisible in the family, but on a regular basis he makes his presence known, in a very loud way, just to remind us that he too is there and needs his own recognition.

"Very perceptive." Leo murmured to me. "I never thought of it that way. Still wish he wouldn't do it so often though."

I smiled up at him. "And I'm sure your stuffiness never gets on their nerves."

"I'm not that bad anymore." He protested.

"No, but you still have your moments."

He just raised an eyeridge at me, but let it go. "You said there was something you wanted to talk about?" He turned his attention to Prime.

"Do you recall the argument in the backup computer room where you made your entry into the facility?"

"The one between Starscream and Soundwave, after we went back?" I asked him.

"Yes, that is the one."

"Couldn't understand what they were saying, but yes. They did seem to be arguing."

"I assure you, they were. Ironhide has sent me a file of the argument, and I am more than a little alarmed."

"That might be why he didn't translate for us." I said thoughtfully "He was busy himself giving you the heads up."

"One of the reasons, yes. The other being he didn't want to alert Soundwave with unnecessary transmissions."

"We were shielded."

"With Soundwave, it is better not to chance it."

"Good point."

"So what were they arguing about?" Leo cut in.

"It seems our suspicions were correct, the humans were indeed taken for a reason other than keeping us away. Also there is another who is involved from what we could gather from that argument, and what you were able to listen in on while inside of their control room."

"What exactly did happen in there?" I asked Leo. "You never got around to telling me."

"I was occupied with other things at the time. But from what I could tell, the argument kept going. I couldn't understand exactly what they were saying though, I don't speak giant robot." He shrugged "Something just kept nagging at me that whatever they were arguing about had to involve the hostages, and not in a good way."

"You're 'nagging' was correct. They intended to abandon the base, and take the humans with them. Both as a shield to keep us away, and to subject them to something at their destination."

"To what?"

"Unknown, they did not get into detail about it before you and they parted ways."

"Sounds like someone out there is needing labrats." I mumbled.

"It does seem that way." Leo agreed.

"So now what?" I asked "We just sit back and wait for them to nab another bus full of hostages? Or a train full?"

"Doubtful that they will try that tactic again now that we are aware of it, but there was a mention of an outside source providing them with more subjects if needed."

"Let me guess," Leo sighed "they didn't mention the name of this 'source'."

"No, they did not."

"Figures." Leo grew quiet a moment, lost in thought. "I'm assuming you are telling me this for a reason."

"Indeed, your continued assistance would be welcome in this matter. By general consent."

"Well, that makes it easier." He smiled. "Now I don't have to go and try and figure this out on my own. Of course we will still help, just wasn't sure if you guys would still want us too. You did originally only hire us for the break out."

"True, but you have more than proven yourselves resourceful, and capable. You would be welcome allies." Now Prime himself was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. "I have not had the opportunity to thank you for assisting my Autobots the first time you have met them, so I shall extend my thanks now."

Leo chuckled a little. "None needed. Trust me, that's one rescue mission we are not really sure we can take credit for. It seems a bumbling chain of events led us to them, just when they needed us. Honestly we didn't even know they were there."

"Leo, nine out of ten times that's all we ever do is bumble our way through shit." I told him amused. "It's becoming our signature."

"That and blowing things up." He grinned back at me.

"None the less, you have my thanks."

He looked like he was about to protest again but I slapped him on the plastron before he could. "Just accept it you goof. It's not often that the ones you help have a chance to thank you for it, and I wish it could happen more. He thinks of those under his care much the same way you feel for those under yours. If he thanks you, it really means something to him that you did it."

**-Well said.-** Ironhide approved in my head.

Crap, he had been so quiet lately I almost forgot he could tune in on me and Leo.

"You're more than welcome." Leo then quietly told the Autobot leader.

**-Is someone going to give me a damage report? Or am I going to have to check all of your comms out when you get back to base because they are clearly malfunctioning!- **Ratchet then blared over the speakers. I had to chuckle a little at the grumpy med-bot. He put on a gruff exterior, but he was obviously concerned.

**-A lil dinged up, but all ahcounted for.-** Jazz took pity on the worrybot.

**-How little is 'a little'?-**

**-Three unable to transform, the rest with the usual dents and scrapes.- **

"Who's that?" I didn't recognize the voice.

"Jolt." Prime answered me.

**-Please don't tell me that Sideswipe or Sunstreaker are one of the three, I just fixed them up from the last skirmish.-**

**-But you know you love having me in there.- **Sides told him.** -So I figured I'd keep you company for awhile.-**

**-You fraggin' glitch! I told you to be careful! You went and popped my weldwork, didn't you?-**

**-No, a Con did.-**

**-Fragger! You wait until I get you in here! When I'm done with you-**

"Ratchet," Prime cut his rant off "the terrapin known as Michelangelo has been seriously wounded. He will be arriving with Lennox, and they should be there shortly along with the hostages."

**-What did he do? Annoy Megatron and got stepped on?-**

**-More like saved the hostages' afts from Ravage, and was rewarded with a nasty bite for his effort.- **Jolt answered. **-Donatello and Smith did what they could for him, but if he isn't treated first he will lose his appendage.-**

**-Understood. I'll have everything prepped for him. Tell Lennox to bring him straight in.- **Ratchet cut the connection then, probably to make good on his promise.

It was that serious...holy... Caitlin is going to freak. Not to mention I was about too. Poor Mikey... Leo just tightened his grip on me, not sure if he was trying to comfort me or himself though.

Prime made the call to Lennox then the rest of the trip passed pretty much quietly, besides the continuing banter between the other Autobots.

**-Hey Hide! You know you're wobbling all over the road right?- **Another voice I didn't know suddenly cut into the chatter over the comm. -**You sure you don't need a lift back to base?-**

**-Yes, I'm sure.- **Ironhide snapped back. **-You just mind your own fraggin business, Mirage.-**

**-I don't know, that wheel looks awfully wobbly.-**

**-It's fine!- **There was a loud thump and a thud from somewhere behind us. **-Scrap!-**

**-I tried to tell him...-**

**-Hide, you fragger! Your tire just scratched my paint!- **Sunny's angry voice came over next, followed by Sides' laughter.

**-Can it, you blasted glitches!-**

**-Might wanna pull ova, Boss Bot.- **Jazz chuckled over the comm.** -Ironhide needs a lift.-**

"Are they always like that?" I asked Prime, trying to hold in my laughter.

The only answer I got was a sigh as the semi pulled to a stop.

**-There goes his bumper.- **A female voice came next. **-Watch it Bee!- **There was a squeal of tires, then another crash, followed by another.

By now Sides' was laughing so hard we didn't need to hear him over the comm, we could hear him from the trailer.

**-Leave it to Hide to cause a mass collision- **Jolt sighed.

**-Primus...we keep this up an Prime is ganna havta haul all of ya back tah base.- **Jazz mumbled.

"For some reason that makes me feel a whole lot better." Leo said.

"Why?" I asked him, still trying not to laugh.

"Seems like we aren't the only ones who bumble our way through things." He said with a straight face, and I lost it.

**-Your opinion was not needed, or wanted.- **Ironhide told us privately, finally causing Leo to break out into his own laughing fit. Lord this had been a crazy night.

.

.

With no more incidents we finally pulled into the base. Mikey and the hostages had already arrived and were being taken care of already. As we pulled in towards the hangers, I could see that one had been converted into a makeshift clinic in our absence and all of the poor folks were getting much needed food, water and medical attention.

Prime kept moving until he reached the far hanger where the command center was before pulling to a stop. Lennox, Epps and Sally were already there, waiting for us as the remaining driveable autobots rolled in.

"How is he?" Leo asked as he helped me down.

"I don't know, Ratchet kicked us out. But he did ask us to have Don come in as soon as he got here." Epps replied.

"On it, just as soon as I get out of this friggin car... Dang it Jazz! Why did you have to choose such a small car?" Donnie griped as he tried to get out, but his shell kept getting hung up. Finally it just slipped free, sending the now of balance Donnie rolling across the pavement.

"Just for reasons like that." Came the amused reply as Marina, laughing, slid out next.

Donnie just shot them both a glare before he jogged inside to get to med-bay, or where ever Ratchet was working on Mikey.

Sunny came pulling up next, and it seemed Raph had no trouble getting out. From the way it looked, Sunny might have helped him the way he also went rolling across the pavement.

"Sunny!" Cris protested the rough treatment of her mate as she got out herself, before he decided to 'help' her too.

"Don't call me that!"

She turned and glared at him. "Fine, I won't. Would you prefer asswipe or dickhead from now on?" Before he could answer she turned away from him and followed Raph inside.

"Ouch..." Sides said as he came out of the trailer. "Seems you might have pissed her off a little." Then he grinned. "I like it."

Sunny just mumbled something I didn't quite catch.

Leo and I followed Raph and Cris in, and I noticed right off the bat that Caitlin wasn't taking the whole thing very well. She was standing by the door, that was closed. Marina had already made it next to her and was holding her close. I always forget how much of a gentle soul she really is compared to the rest of us. We've seen a lot, don't get me wrong we still worried over the youngest turtle, it's just that we've hardened ourselves a little against these mishaps. But Caitlin never really was a warrior type and as far as I can recall, this was the first time for her having to deal with Mikey being the one getting patched up. She wasn't taking it too well. Cris had by now joined Marina and together they led her away, trying to comfort her the best they could.

"Fucking Cons." I mumbled as I watched them go and Leo wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"That's about one of the nicer things I'd say about them." Epps told me as he and the Lennox cousins joined us.

Sally was staring at Leo and Raph, her eyes full of wonder. They looked back at her with calm acceptance over the fact that she now knew who exactly had saved her backside. Hell, why would they be upset, the whole fucking base knew about them by now. Leo turned his gaze to Lennox. "You could have told us one of the hostages was your cousin." He calmly said.

"I didn't want you to think that she was my only concern among the group, even if she was the largest." He replied quietly.

Raph just snorted as Leo replied. "Major, we would never have thought that of you. It's only natural to be concerned most for the ones closest to you, that doesn't mean you don't care about others."

"I guess you're right. And please, call me Will."

"Why didn't you tell me about them?" Sally asked her cousin.

"Because I didn't know about them either until you got bus napped."

"I meant the robots."

"Oh, well... I wasn't supposed too."

She sighed. "Well, I can't say anything about it. I'm here with my own information I needed to share about those things out there."

"You mean you weren't coming to visit?"

"Not entirely. But I did want to spend time with you, just this wasn't what I had in mind."

He laughed. "I guess not."

"So, do I drop the info on you? Or who do I share it with."

"I do believe we are the ones you need to speak with on that matter, Miss Lennox." Prime said as he entered the hanger.

Sally turned to see him walk towards us, her eyes growing larger with every step he took then wider still as he was flanked by numerous autobots. All walking towards us. It was one of those spine chilling scenes, like I got when I watched the arrival of the bots in the first movie. I don't know why, but watching them enter the way they did, calm, serious, regarding us as they moved closer, sent that same familiar tingle down my spine again. All that was missing was the by now iconic entrance music from the movie score. It was just...I don't know, awe inspiring. After everything they been through tonight, they were still here, still standing, still protecting... Damn I needed to quit, I was giving myself goosebumps.

Leo felt what I was thinking and pulled me even closer to him and I wrapped my arms around him, still taking it in. I wish I could hold onto this moment forever, it just seemed so epic to me and I just couldn't really explain why. You had to have been there to fully understand it I guess, I just can't find the words and I'll bore you to death if I tried.

Prime stopped next to us and knelt down. "We wish to formally thank you for your assistance." He said to Leo and Raph, who looked a little awestruck themselves. Maybe my mood was rubbing off on them. "Let it be known that from here on out you, and your family, are to be considered one of us, allies we are honored to fight beside and friends that we are glad to have made. Your secret will stay with us and if you in return ever need assistance, you need look no further than here. And here you need not hide anymore, but may freely walk among us."

Even I was a little speechless at this. Raph and Leo were trying hard to keep composed as nods of agreement came from the bots still flanked behind their leader. Bee even went so far as to give us a thumbs up.

"Thank you." Leo replied, in a voice thick with emotion. I couldn't imagine what it felt like for him, them. To be fully accepted and to be able to walk around, on a base full of humans. Humans who would normally shun them at first glance. The process that had begun with the medic trying to help Mikey out in the desert had apparently spread and grown among all of the base occupants until the Bots themselves felt the need to extend to them this small piece of normality. That was a very big deal for them.

Epps slapped a hand on Leo's shell. "Man, just because you're different doesn't mean all of us humans think you are bad. They don't have to hide here, so why should you?"

"Besides, if you are going to help us deal with this you might as well get used to working with all of us, not just the bots." Will grinned at him. "Had to pop quite a few heads out there when they caught glimpses of you to get them to pay attention. Might not have time for that next time."

Not trusting himself to speak, Leo just nodded. He did however hold me a little tighter, and if the trembling in his arms were any indication he was more than grateful for the warm reception. I, for one, was glad they were finally getting some recognition they deserved and was long overdue for.

***Author's note: I admit, I jumped on the sappy wagon there a bit at the end. I was listening to the transformers movie score when I was writing and it inspired me to do this. I feel that just because they are Ninja Turtles they shouldn't have to hide all the time, but we all know why they do. And honestly here on the Autobot base the Bots don't have to hide, so why should the turtles? Two different species, but the same problem. So I decided to give the guys more freedom of movement here. May not fit in with the over all accepted view of both franchises...but it fits perfectly in my mind. It's time to let the boys out of the darkness and enjoy the light for once. Ok, gonna stable the sappy horse now.**


	12. Chapter 12

"How's she holding up?" Leo asked Marina as she came out of the room that we had been given.

"Sleeping, for now." She sighed as she closed the door behind her. "She's taking this harder than I thought she would. Any word on Mikey?"

"Not yet." Leo replied. His eyes still had that stunned look to them, and his hand was firmly holding mine. He still seemed to be taking in what happened not to long ago, and it seemed that he needed me close. He hadn't let me get more than a few feet away.

Marina tilted her head a little as she watched him. "You ok Leo?"

"I'm fine." He said quietly. "Just a little overwhelmed at the moment."

"What happened?"

"He's learning that he doesn't have to hide from everyone, and what it's like to be fully accepted by more than just us." I told her as I looked up fondly at him. "He's having a hard time adjusting to that."

"I can imagine. It's easy for us to just up and go take a walk when we want too. So easy that I think we tend to take that for granted." She laid a hand on his shoulder, then went to go talk to Will.

"Excuse me, sir." A soldier said as he walked up. As he got closer I noticed it was the same medic from earlier, that Donnie almost knocked the snot out of for trying to help Mikey.

Leo turned to face him, his hand tightening on mine a little. "Yes?"

"Ratchet sent me to come and get you, sir. He says it's ok for you to come see him now."

"Thank you." Leo looked at him a moment, not quite sure what to do next, before he turned towards med-bay.

"Um, sir?" Leo turned to look back at him. "I just wanted to say I think that was awesome what you guys did out there. Forgive me if I'm stepping a little out of bounds here, but you think maybe you could show us some moves?"

Leo watched him a moment. "What's your name?"

"Spc. Smith."

"Not your rank, your name."

He looked a little shocked. "Tony, Tony Smith, sir."

"My name is Leonardo, not sir." Leo smiled at him. "Tony, I can't show you much. But maybe a trick or two should curb your curiosity. If we can find the time."

I smiled a little as his eyes lit up like a little kids at Christmas. "Thank you, si- Leonardo!" He said then dashed off to go tell Raph, who was talking to Epps, that we could go see Mikey.

"See, it's not that hard to make friends, is it?"

"We will see if he still wants to be friends after he gets tossed around a few times." Leo grinned at me.

We walked in to a grumbling Ratchet who was fixing up a sheepishly grinning Sides. "Next time I tell you to be careful you better listen or I swear to Primus I'll hook you up to a magnet and hang you up for target practice, and then..." I chuckled as we kept going to where Donnie was at on the far side of the room, with an awake but groggy looking Mikey laying down on a human sized medical bed.

"Hey Mikey." I said softly as we drew closer. In part as to not startle the drowsy turtle and in part not to piss off the grumbling med-bot who wasn't far away.

"Hey guys," He managed his ever ready smile, which made me feel a whole lot better "did we get them all out?"

"Yes, we did. A large part of that because of you. You goof, what made you take that thing on by yourself?"

"Wasn't enough time to wait." He said simply. I just reached out and took his hand and squeezed it gently.

"Will the arm heal?" Leo asked Donnie quietly while I kept Mikey busy with small talk.

"Yeah, it was close but Ratchet is very good at what he does. He managed to save the arm, the mutagen should do the rest now. He should make a full recovery, with a few new battle scars to show off."

"Was it really that bad?" Leo asked and Donnie nodded.

"It was bad enough to where I was honestly thinking we were going to have to take the arm."

"That's two of us now Ratchet has patched back up." Raph said as he drew closer.

"And he was more difficult than the femme." Ratchet said as he also walked over with Sides. "Your complex body structure proved to be challenging."

"Isn't he supposed to be greener than that?" Sides asked, and Ratchet bopped him with a clang. "I was just asking..." Sides mumbled as he rubbed his noggin.

"Hey, doc bot." Mikey greeted him. "Thanks for fixing me up."

"You keeping your arm is thanks enough, youngling. But if you insist on tangling with Ravage you might want to consider more armour."

"I'll keep that in mind." Mikey grinned at him. "Looks like we are going to have to put a hold on our prank war." He then told Sides.

"I think we can manage a small ceasefire." Sides replied with a slight grin.

"You out." Ratchet then shooed the wheeled footed Autobot. "I've got more bots to fix, and you're in my way."

"Yes Hatchet!" He crowed as he swiftly moved out of smack range, but he wasn't quick enough to get out of throwing range and Ratchet nailed him with a wrench as he went out the door.

"Pain in my fraggin' aft mech." Ratchet mumbled as he went to deal with the small Arcee triplet who came in next. "I'm hoping you gave more damage than you took in, Chromia."

"Of course. I had to keep up with my sisters."

Then next bot that came in, a little bashfully, made me grin. With a quick, hesitant glance at Ratchet, Bumblebee came walking in and in his hand he was gingerly holding a bouquet of orange flowers. Ratchet glared at him for a moment and Bee quickly pointed to Mikey as he held up the flowers. Where on earth did he get them at this odd hour? Ratchet didn't say anything but gave him a quick nod and Bee walked the rest of the way in before kneeling down next to us. Then carefully, very carefully, he held out the flowers to Mikey. "Thank you buddy..." Mikey said as he took them. "Don't have nothing to put them in though."

Bee looked around for a moment before grabbing a bucket that sat nearby and holding it out to him. A bucket that was three times larger than needed to hold the flowers. Raph just chuckled. "It's fine, I'll go find something to put them in." Then he left to go do just that.

The yellow bot put the bucket back, then looked at Donnie questionly and pointed to Mikey's wrapped up arm. "He will be fine." Donnie answered the unspoken question. "I'm sure he will be up and pestering everyone in no time."

Bee nodded, then made himself more comfortable on the floor and began talking to Mikey. I smiled as I leaned tiredly against Leo, watching the two as they talked. Mikey easily understanding the radio chatter and responding with his own quips.

"You need rest." Ironhide said suddenly from behind us. We had been so busy watching Mikey and Bee that I hadn't even noticed him coming in, carrying his tire and the pieces of his bumper.

"I wish I could. Someone has to stay up though, kids will be up in a few short hours."

"Then you should use those hours for sleep." He stubbornly said.

"He's got a point, dear one." Leo told me. "You look like you are about to fall over."

"Oh, and you aren't feeling at least a little tired?" I asked him as I raised a brow at him.

"Doesn't matter, he is going to rest too." Ratchet said as he walked over. "All of you out! And don't let me catch you doing anything but sleeping." He pointed to the door.

"But we still need to talk to Optimus about-" Leo was cut of by a wrench waving threateningly in the air above his head.

"Prime will understand. Out! Rest, now!" Ratchet growled. "Or I will see if your head is as hard as your shell is."

Mikey began to laugh from his bed at Leo's wide eyed look as he watched the wrench flying around in the air above his head as Ratchet waved it around as he spoke. "Dude, you better do as he says, or he'll make you."

"That's enough out of you too!" Ratchet glared at him. "You tell your visitors goodbye and go to sleep."

"Yes, Mommy." Mikey muttered as the medbot walked away. Ratchet turned to glare at him a moment, and Mikey grinned right back at him.

"See what you did?" I muttered to Ironhide on the way out. "You got us all in trouble."

"Really? It seems you are perfectly capable of accomplishing that on your own."

"This from the one who lost his tire..."

"Just come on, you." Leo said as he drug me from the room, and away from Ratchet's wrench.

.

.

I have to admit I did feel better after I woke up, snuggled firmly in Leo's arms. Until I noticed that all the kids were already up and out of the room. "Crap!" I mumbled as I tried to sit up, only to be pulled back down next to him. "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you to tell me good afternoon." He smiled at me.

"Afternoon? Really? No one could wake me up to tend to the kids?"

"I tried." He grinned at me. "You couldn't hear me over your snoring."

"Oh, you!" I smacked him with my pillow.

"Relax." He chuckled as he took the pillow from me. "I was awake already when they woke up. I managed to get them fed and dressed without you, and you were tired."

"So why are you in here with me now and the kids are MIA?"

"I got told to go back to bed, I didn't sleep enough." I laughed at his exasperated expression. "And the kids are with Cris and Marina, outside playing..."

"You actually let them go out?" Didn't think he was ready to let that happen just yet.

"No, they were snatched and taken out."

"By who?"

"Bumblebee." He shook his head. "And Cris told me to shut the hell up and not be such a stiff over it when I tried to get them back."

I laughed, poor Leo seemed to be getting bullied a lot the last few hours.

After getting up and dressed and pretty much ready to face the day, Leo and I walked outside to check on my missing children to find Bee giving them rides around the tarmac. Leo's jaw dropped open when he saw Ty in the driver's seat, yanking on the wheel. He looked like he was about to, taking the term from Sideswipe here, blow a gasket. "You do know Bee won't let anything happen to them right?" I asked him before he started stomping across the tarmac and ruining everyone's fun. "It's not like Ty is actually going to crash into anything."

He just sighed and shook his head. "I'm not sure if I'm ever going to get used to this." He mumbled.

I just laid a hand on his arm. I knew what he was referring to, the fact that his turtle children were outside playing, in the open. I think he was wanting more to bring them inside to shield them, out of habit, than out of any real fear of Ty crashing a car he wasn't even driving. "You will, it took me awhile to get used to you guys at first, but I did. Let them have their fun." I smiled a gentle smile as I watched my obviously happy son as he bounced around in the seat, before the seatbelt snapped around him to settle him back down. "I seriously doubt anyone would be dumb enough to try anything." I told Leo as I pointed to a spot not far away. Ironhide, Jazz, Mirage and even Prime himself were out there with Marina and Cris, watching the children play that Bee wasn't driving around. I knew they were there for more than just the reason of watching for the fun of it.

**-We told you we would protect your younglings, Leonardo,-** Hide confirmed my suspicions **-and so we shall.-**

"Autobot daycare..." Epps chuckled as he joined us. "Never thought I'd see the day..."

I chuckled myself a little. "Honestly, I didn't expect that from them either. But I guess it's not unusual for them to be near children, right? I mean they had to have been around their own kind's children before."

"True, but you just don't picture large robots that blow shit up on a regular basis to be good with kids, any kids."

"Maybe because it's all we see from them. It's not like they have much of a chance to raise their own children." I sighed a little sadly. "The things their war must have taken from them, kind of makes our petty squabbles seem pointless."

"Yeah it does." Epps agreed quietly. "I came out here to come get you and Prime. Sally is all rested up and ready to have a nice long chat with us."

"Sure, just let me go check on Mikey." Leo told him.

"I wouldn't risk it. Ratchet just got him to go back to sleep, after he bullied Caitlin to go to bed. Apparently she still wasn't looking too hot for his liking."

"She was just worried is all, I'm sure seeing my brother awake and still kicking was the best medicine she could have gotten."

"Tell that to Ratchet."

"I'd rather not."

.

.

About half an hour later we were gathered in the control room and was waiting for Sally to make her appearance, which didn't take long as she came in with Will. She looked again up at the tall form of Prime with awe a moment before she got herself under control again. "I gotta get used to that. I knew there were bad one's I didn't know about you guys."

"Which brings us to the reason we are all here I suppose." Donnie said from the chair he was sitting in, with his feet propped up on the table in front of him.

She nodded. "I was sent here to meet up with someone who was supposed to know how to handle what's been going on, I just thought it would be some branch of the CIA, I didn't know it was a whole different agency, with Will in the front seat."

"Actually, he's in that seat." Will pointed to Prime. "I'm just in charge of the measly squishable human factor."

"You know what I meant." She smiled at him. "I lost my Laptop in the busjacking, but I didn't have the files on it." She pulled a flashdrive out of her pocket. "I was just going to use it to load this up on it to show you."

"I think I can help you out, let me see it." Donnie said and she tossed him the flashdrive. He quickly hooked it up then looked at Jazz. "Got a screen I can hijack for a few?"

"Tha one next to yah is fine."

"Thanks." Donnie said as he kept working, then the screen lit up with various pictures. They were all of different locations, but the one thing they all had in common were the glowing red eyes that had been caught on the footage.

"Punk ass Decepticons..." Ironhide immediately picked out the otherwise blurry forms.

"Yes, for the last few months they have been breaking into research facilities, all over the planet not just here. They have been targeting mainly prototypes of new equipment, most of them in the medical and research fields, but some military prototypes have also been snatched."

"Prototypes of what?" Leo asked her from where he wa leaning against the wall next to Raph, both with their arms crossed.

"Different things actually. It's confusing to my superiors as well. Some of the stuff they are taking makes no sense to us on _why_ they are taking them. I mean, what would they need with a machine that was developed for monitoring skin cell growth?"

"Why was this not brought to our attention before now?" Prime asked her then.

"We didn't know what we were dealing with until recently. Because of the thefts, security systems had been upgraded and those are the few and only shots we got of them in action before they wiped out those new systems." She sighed. "We had at first assumed it was a terrorist group doing the raids, these bad shots quickly proved us wrong."

"Now what are those blasted Cons up too?" Hide mumbled as he looked over the pictures.

"That is what we would like to find out."

"Sally, not to step on your toes here," Raph said then "But you seem a little young for them to entrust you with this. So I'm guessing there is a special reason for them to send you."

"You're right, the only reason I was sent is because I happened to be on site of one of the raids. I could clearly see what was breaking in and making off with the goods. And because of that, I got nominated. I'm getting the impression only a select few higher ups know about what's going on here, so they didn't want to expose someone who didn't need to know."

"So they sent one who already knew." I guessed as I sat down on the edge of the table Donnie's feet were still propped on.

"Lucky me right?" She smiled.

"Interesting..." Donnie mumbled as he kept digging through the info she handed him.

"What is?" Leo asked him.

"I'm looking over the list of items they took. On their own, they don't seem to harmful, except the military thefts. But I'm wondering if they have the intention of maybe somehow combining all the stuff they are gathering. You know, a piece from this, a gadget from that..."

"Or mahbe combinin' the machines themselvs." Jazz spoke up. "The question is, what are they makin'?"

"Something to cause trouble with, no doubt." Hide answered him.

"Too many variables right now to narrow it down, but I do know I don't like it." Donnie added.

"And are they done swiping shit, or are they needing more parts?" Casey asked.

"The last theft was about four days before I set out to come here." Sally said. "And they are averaging about every two weeks or so. Give or take a few days."

"Go in, grab, make a run for it, drop it off to where ever they are taking them, then head out to the next site, wait for the heat to die down a little, repeat the process." Donnie mused. "But I'm guessing the bus napping might be a sign that they are close to finished with whatever it is they are doing."

"If that is the case, then finding them is a priority." Prime added to the conversation.

"Tha's tha tricky part." Jazz mumbled. "They don' like ta be found."

"Maybe we can have them take us there." Leo replied thoughtfully. "Donnie, do you think you can locate some things out there they might be interested in still?"

"I can try, I'm going to need complete access to the computer systems though. Gonna take some serious hacking to see what else is out there."

"Isn't that like seriously illegal?" Casey asked him.

Donnie shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time I've broke the law to save the lawmaker's hide."

"I'll have someone write you up a pardon." Sally grinned at him.

"Only if they catch me." Donnie grinned back at her.

"Ya mean 'us'." Jazz grinned at them both.

"Then proceed." Prime gave the command. "The sooner we find out what they are doing, the sooner we can put a stop to it."

"And the sooner I can show them my new cannon upgrades." Ironhide said as he gave his toys a test spin. "Ratchet just installed them and I need to break them in."

I wasn't the only one who facepalmed at that.


	13. Chapter 13

"Hey Raph! Heads up!" Tony yelled as he let the football fly towards the red banded turtle. But Raph was already on the move to intercept it before leaping into the air and catching it. He hit the ground running and, dodging to other players with ease, began to make his way across the field to score a touchdown. That was until the other team launched their own secret weapon as Leo came darting in from the side and came dangerously close to ramming into him before Raph spun out of the way. Undeterred Leo hit the ground and launched himself into another leap and this time he managed to bring his larger brother to the ground with enough force to knock the ball out of his hands and it went on it's own awkward bouncy rolly way before Thane rushed out to snap it up, then took off with it.

"Hey! You little ball thief!" Epps hooped as he began to chase the little boy to get the ball back.

"So, would that be a play interference?" Caitlin asked me amused as she shifted Ari in her arms.

"More like thief interference." I grinned back as I watched Raph's son as he kept running away from Epps, giggling and laughing the whole time. Until Ty came out of nowhere it seemed to tackle his cousin and once again the ball went bouncing around until Lavi snapped it up this time. Then it was her turn to run off with it.

"You little rat!" Will laughed as she darted around the soldiers, keeping the ball from them. To be honest, none of them were really trying to get it from her.

Then she made the mistake of running too close to Daddy, who had no problem scooping her up, ball and all. "You little stinker." He grinned at her. "Give me that ball back."

"Here daddy." She said proudly handing him the ball. "I won! I got the ball!"

"Yes you did." he replied with a straight face even as the troops around then let out a few laughs. "Good job."

"I don't think that is part of the rule book though." Mikey grinned as he watched with us from the sidelines.

It had been a few days now. The hostages had been sent home, Donnie and Jazz were still trying to find something left out there that the Cons might have an interest in swiping and Mikey was finally up and walking about. He could have been out sooner, but Ratchet was very insistent on making sure that arm heals properly. And I thought Donnie was a bad mother hen.

Today was again one of those days where something happened that I never really thought I would get the chance to see. We had been outside training, surrounded by curious observers. Other than the attention it was a normal training session, routines we had all done so many times it was just normal for us. Today I was paired up against Leo, trying my best not to get my ass handed to me. Even now that this was a normal part of my life, fully accepted and embraced, all fears on both our ends about my abilities having been put to rest long ago, I still got my ass handed to me on a regular basis. But my training, as well as Cris' had also grown considerably in difficulty over the last couple of years.

Originally, all Leo had wanted to do was make sure we could handle ourselves in a fight, since we both kept insisting on going out and trying to help. The only thing keeping us alive in those bumbling bashing baddies attempts had been sheer dumb luck, and a lot of last minute turtle rescues. Something Leo figured out real quick that we couldn't always count on. So they had begun training us.

At first it was the typical self defense type things. Blocking, dodging, striking back at weak points when we saw an opening, things like that. Hard yes, but nothing our worn out aging bodies couldn't handle. We knew we'd never be as good as them, but we were learning and doing ok for a pair of normal human beings, until we weren't normal anymore.

A pair of freak accidents that had both almost cost Cris and I our lives had forced the introduction of Mikey's blood into our system to keep us among the living. And that transfusion had it's own side effects on us, the most notable one being the small half turtle children we were able to concieve, but also a lot of unseen benefits as well. Better eyesight, including a better night vision, quicker reflexes, more strength and endurance. Basically just charged up versions of what we used to be.

Leo then had added more to our training to accommodate those changes in us. More and more he and his brothers slowly added to our training. Seeing the best ways to put our advanced abilities to use, even including Marina in those training sessions. The girl could already fight when she joined us but they guys saw the same potential in her that they saw in us so they just pulled her right along with Cris and I. We trained for hours some days, Cris and I learning how to bring our legs into the fight more and Marina perfecting her already known techniques. Learning to balance, climb, even simple movements was relearned. We were now so much farther than just the simple self defense Leo had originally wanted to teach me. We could do quite a few things that I never thought I would ever be able to do before.

And after all of that...I _still_ couldn't whoop Leo's ass! Arrgh! Once again I found myself laying on the ground, with him grinning over me as he had me pinned.

The soldiers had looked on, more than a little awed at the display. They looked like they wanted to say something but not sure what, until Tony hesitantly asked if he could have a swing at it.

Leo looked at him a moment, then at the others, which by now had included Will and Epps. "You sure?" He then asked the young medic. "We are not easy teachers." He informed them as he helped me up off of the ground.

"That's the god honest truth." Cris mumbled and I flashed her a quick grin, as I rubbed my sore backside.

"Nothing worth learning is ever easy. My Grandpa used to tell me that." Tony smiled.

Leo raised an eyeridge at him and had a slight smile on his face. "Very well. Step forward then."

And that began a couple of hours of the soldiers being thrown around for once instead of me. "Wow...is that what I looked like back in a day?" I asked Cris ruefully as I watched a Epps hit the ground, hard, gasping for air after Donnie put him there.

"Yup." She grinned as Raph gave Will the same treatment.

Tony wasn't having much luck either with Leo as he once again hit the ground. "Damn," He mumbled as he got up "you guys really don't go easy on newbies."

"Train as you fight." I grinned at him. "Old army saying if I remember right."

"You remember correctly." Another soldier told me as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Well, I've had enough of a beating for one day." Tony said "Who's up for some football?"

"That's a contradiction from hell." Raph grinned. "First you said you had enough beatings, then you want to play football."

"Gotta beat you at something." Tony grinned back.

"Bring it." Raph told him, with his grin turning a bit devilish.

And so, that's how we ended up out here watching them play football. Caitlin had come out shortly after with the kids, Casey and Mikey and they had quickly let Dennis and Casey join in their game while Amy and the rest of us were just content to watch. And once again there were Autobots hovering nearby, this time Bee, Sunny and Sides. Donnie had went back inside to keep working with Jazz.

Bee and Sides were watching the game with mild amusement, Sunny looked like he was bored of it all. I was starting to wonder if that was his normal expression.

The sounds of heavy footsteps approaching gave Ironhide away as he also made his way towards us, Ratchet not far behind. "Humans, I will never understand them." The med-bot mumbled as he drew closer. "So easily squishable, yet they play games that always result in injuries. And guess who has tho fix them back up." Then his blue eyes narrowed a bit as he watched the children scamper among the adults. Right now they had all "tackled" Leo to get the ball from him, and the men were trying to "help" him by tickling the hell outta the kids. Not really sure who was winning here. "They shouldn't be letting the younglings play! They could get seriously injured!"

"Relax big guy." Marina told him with a slight smile. "They are adjusting the roughness to account for the little team players."

"I'm just not sure whose team they are actually on." Cris grinned.

"Apparently the 'tackle Leo' team." I grinned as Leo finally managed to wiggle out from underneath the little turtles, holding Dante under one arm as he wriggled, whith cries of "Put down!" escaping from Donnie's son.

"No, I'm not going to put you down. You guys took our football, and now I'm going to use you instead." Leo grinned down at him.

"No no no! Put down!"

Leo laughed as he complied and put his nephew down. Figuring he could get his eldest uncle, he went to go tackle Raph next, and the others quickly decided the new target was the new best thing as he also went down. "You guys cheat!" Came from under that pile of giggling children. "How am I supposed to fight back against such mean kids!" They just laughed harder at him as they pinned him.

"Wow..." Leo said as he watched on amused. "You can kick backsides of everything you have ever come across in battle, but you get your butt whooped by four little kids."

"Didn't see you doing much better." Came the response through the giggling.

"I'll save you." Tony grinned as he picked up a giggling Ty, and slung him over his shoulder.

I just watched on, amused and a little amazed. Never had I thought I would get to see this. Turtles and humans, playing, together. It was almost enough to bring tears to my eyes. Lord, now I was the one getting sappy over it all.

"It seems they do have a soft side under their hard exterior." Ironhide mused as he watched the display himself.

'_Oh, like you don't?_' I asked him quietly with a raised eyebrow. Leo and I had offered to give back the gadget that made this communication possible, but Hide had insisted we stay hooked up. "We may need it again in the future and Ratchet might not be available." was the excuse. It did make sense though, if we were in on this run for the long haul, might as well hold onto it. _'I do believe you were trying to show Dennis and Amy your cannons yesterday.' _Leo had been looking for them and found them at the firing range of all places, watching Hide blow shit up and loving it. It was when he offered to let them have a closer look that Leo stepped in. I guess he didn't want the black bot to accidentally blow them up or something.

He didn't reply, but he did shoot me a wry grin. A grin that slowly left his face as he caught sight of something behind me and he watched it intently, then his eyes narrowed around the same time I turned to look to see what had gotten his attention. There were some black dots in the early afternoon sky, and they were quickly growing larger.

By now the other Autobots had caught sight of them too and Bee, Sides and Sunny moved up next to Hide to also stare up at them. I was slowly starting to get a bad feeling, as did the other fleshies as they caught on to the robot's interest. Weapons started snapping out around the same time Jazz came hauling ass out of the control room on squealing tires. "Cons!" He shouted even as the spots in the sky quickly grew close enough for us to make out the jet outlines.

At that moment all hell broke loose. The soldiers went for their weapons that they never kept far from them as Autobots exploded out of different hangers and began to open fire. I heard a whine right above my head and looked up to see Hide, Bee and Sunny both had already taken aim at the rapidly approaching Seekers, then they opened fire. Ratchet took another route, he quickly moved towards the children. I turned and ran towards Casey, Leo and Raph, fully intent on helping them get Caitlin and the little ones out of danger.

"Protect the younglings!" Hide shouted over all of the commotion, even as the Cons returned fire. "Blasted Cons! How did they find us!"

That I couldn't answer as I ran across the field, Cris and Marina by my side, Mikey dragging Caitlin who still clung to Ari. All of our attention on the little forms Leo and Raph, now along with Ratchet, were trying so desperately to get to safety. Ratchet was now providing cover fire as well for them. Quickly he noticed that this wasn't going to be a quick skirmish, they had come in force. He transformed into his vehicle mode and his doors flew open. "Get them inside!" I heard him yell at the fathers.

Suddenly the earth shook as a Con landed in the field, between us and our objective, fully intent on wiping out a seemingly distracted Ratchet. His weapon came up and was about to fire when a sudden flash of silver came crashing into it from the side. Sides tackled it with such force that once again the earth trembled as both of them collided with the ground. The Con raised a weapon to fire at Sides' head as they struggled but the Autobot was not so easily overcome as he proved when he literally ripped the firearm off of the Con it was attached too, then beat him upside the head with it a few times before the Con knocked him in the side and they went rolling along the ground again, towards us.

With wide eyes, Marina and I dodged to the left while Cris and Mikey took Caitlin right as the combatants rolled over the ground we just had been moments before. They were now less that twenty feet away from Marina and I and we found ourselves in a dangerous situation as the titans struggled right in front of us. "We gotta go!" Marina snapped as she pulled me back from the falling arm of the Con as Sides knocked it away. It hit the ground just a few feet away, spraying us both with dirt. Again we tried to move only to be blocked again by the rolling forms and found ourselves back peddling away.

Sides once again had the upper hand, and by now had a blade ready in it and wasted no more time to put it to use as he impaled it in the Con's head, then ripped it up. With a shower of sparks the Con's body fell still, just feet away from where Marina and I were watching.

"Are you unharmed?" Sides asked us as Marina and I stared at the now lifeless Con who had almost crushed us mere moments ago.

Before we could answer another Con came screeching in and crashed into Sides with enough force to send him rolling across the field. I caught a quick glimpse of Ratchet hightailing it out of there, and Leo, Raph, Mikey, Casey and Cris now running towards us. A quick sigh of relief escaped my lips that the kids were being brought to safety, before the Con turned his attention to us. It was Starscream, for the love of god...

Even now Sides was trying to scramble back to his wheeled feet as Screamer reached down for us. To squish us or not I didn't know, and really didn't want to find out as Marina and I scrambled to get away from him. Once again our eyes wide as we took his large form in. Explosions were going off all around us, shaking the very earth we were trying to scramble across, as buildings went up in flames. Our ears were assaulted by the sounds of gunfire and heavy hand to hand rumblings of the Autobots as they viciously tried to fend off our attackers. But all my attention was on the Con in front of me and the fact that Sides wouldn't get to him in time.

Suddenly there was an explosion as something hit him. Hit him hard enough to send him flying in a forward airborne roll over us and he slammed into the ground behind us. Then Ironhide was there, his cannon still smoking from the last shot he fired and still aimed at the Con behind us as he stalked in, murder in his eyes. Sides was by now up on his feet and with blades ready, he also came in again. His look also not very promising for the Con's second in command.

Marina and I chose that moment to try and get the hell out of the way, only to underestimate the damage that had been done to the Con. Even as we got to our feet, metallic hands reached from behind to grab us and we were lifted into the air as Starscream got to his feet, making sure he held us in front of him as a shield. Yeah, Marina and I struggled, not that it did us any good.

Ironhide and Sides stopped their advance, they both knew there was no way to hit him, without hurting us and you could see the anger and frustration building up in them. And in the faces of my family who were now right next to the Autobots. "Let them go you poor excuse for a toaster oven!" Cris screamed at him before she threw a shurikan. It was a futile effort, done more out of rage and fear than out of any thought of actually causing the Con any kind of damage. It just clanged harmlessly off of his leg.

"Starscream! I will tear you apart!" Ironhide roared at the now maliciously grinning Con, taking another step forward.

"I think not." Came the cold answer. "Not as long as I have these." And he gave us a nasty shake to emphasize his point. I had to admit, that hurt more than a little and I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth even as Marina let out a moan of pain, effectively stopping Hide in his tracks again. "It seems we have done what we came here to do." Starscream said smugly as he took a quick glance around the now destroyed base. "I do believe I will take my leave now." And with a mighty leap we were in the air as Starscream took flight.

"No!" I heard Leo's frustrated, anger and fear filled shout ring out before the base was quickly left behind.


	14. Chapter 14

"God damn it all to hell!" Leonardo burst out as he helplessly watched them fly away.

Ironhide felt much the same way right now and he decided to take his anger out on the nearest Con. He weapons came up as he spun around, his targeting system easily picking out his prey as it struggled with Bumblebee. In a blink of an optic he unleashed several grenades and missiles on it as he methodically stalked in. Each shot fired accompanied with a curse as he literally shot the Con to pieces. Bumblebee wisely backed away as the larger mech unleashed his fury on that single target, round after round impacting until there was nothing left of the Seeker but broken parts and blue stains of energon surrounding the ground around it's now lifeless corpse.

Still, even this didn't satisfy his rage that was fueled by the feelings coming to him from Leonardo and he spun around to find another target only to find the rest of the Cons, those who were still able too anyway, were already fleeing.

They did however manage to render the base useless, and there were numerous wounded both bot and human. Ironhide let out a frustrated growl and shot a round in the ground to relieve some of that frustration that he still felt. He brought himself under control when he noticed that he wasn't the only one about to go on a rampage. Leonardo was furiously struggling with his brothers who apparently were trying to calm him. A battered Donatello had by now joined them and his look was more stunned when he found out what had happened.

"Donnie! You got and tranq needles on you!" Mikey hollered over the commotion taking place at Ironhide's feet.

He could feel for the reptile, to lose friends was bad enough but your sparkmate? Still, the green one needed to get himself under control if they were going to get her back, and Hide had every intention of doing so. Vicky had grown on him, along with the others even if he would never admit it. But she had a stubbornness to her, willing to risk it all to help. Even if it was someone she wasn't fond about. He brought the memory file up of her hanging out of his window, her legs wrapped in his seat belt as she tried to keep another turtle, an evil one from what he could gather, from falling off of Bumblebee. She was clearly unable to lift him to safety during that car chase, but she tried and she was at least able to keep him from falling as they sped along. He admired her for her bravery, if not for her smarts. That was a stupid thing to do. But then again, was he really so different? Ironhide couldn't remember all of the times Ratchet yelled at him for doing similar crap, well he could, but it would take a while to bring up all the files... He was about to pick up her mate and knock some sense into him when he heard something that did it far more efficiently than he ever could.

_'Leo! Stop it! I'm fine, we are fine. Get your ass in gear and follow the damn signal!' _

'_Vicky! Please dear one, stay with me..._' The turtle calmed almost immediately when he heard her voice, to the astonishment of the others as they released him and stepped back.

Prime came walking over at that moment and looked like he was about to speak, but remained quiet when he noticed the distressed faces below him.

**-Starscream took his and Donatello's mate.-** He quickly informed Optimus and the leader's face took on an even a graver tone than usual as he looked helplessly at the family. **-But they are still alive and communicating.- **Hide quickly informed him.

'_I'm trying Leo. He's moving so fast, can't breath..._' There was a pause before she continued. '_Leo please, freak out later, follow the rings, might be the only chance we get to find them...' _Ironhide paid more attention to her, and felt the sensation of flying in the open. The sheer speed of the travel making it hard to breath with Starscreams's hand clamped around her. Then he lost all sensation from her whatsoever and with that door snapping shut, he lost the presence of Leonardo in his mind as well.

"Donnie!" Leonardo snapped. "Get a fix on those rings, _now!_"

Donatello blinked a few times to clear his shocked mind, then began to work on the curious device strapped to his arm. "Traveling northeast at a high rate of speed."

"Get the van."

"Not going to work, it's buried under debris right now."

"I will transport you." Ironhide told them as Leonardo once again was overcome with rage. He didn't need the bond to see it clearly on his face. Hide offered for one to give him some kind of comfort with the knowledge that he would indeed have a way to get to her, and two he wasn't about to let those blasted Cons get away with this.

"Not alone." Prime told him "Take some of the others with you. I will stay here and see to the wounded and join you as soon as I can."

**-Jazz!-** Ironhide roared over the comm.

**-What? Ah'm busy!-**

**-I need you, we have Cons to track down.-**

**-No way ta find 'em!- **Jazz's frustrated voice came back to him.

**-There is now. Get your aft in gear and get ready to roll, I'll explain on the way.- **He then looked at Bumblebee and the twins. "You three are with me."

"Gonna scrap some Cons?" Sides asked with a large grin.

"Gonna scrap some Cons. Starscream made a grave mistake when he took the femmes, and he doesn't even know it."

.

.

I groaned as I opened my eyes. Lord my sides hurt...that fucker has a nasty grip. I'm going to be stiff and sore for week now, at least.

Marina was already awake and up, looking around the room we had been put in. "Hey, you has me worried there for a while." She said once she heard me moving and groaning.

"How long have I been out?"

"A few hours."

"Shit." I mumbled. "Leo is probably having kittens by now. I blacked out right in the middle of talking to him."

"Think you can try now?"

"I can I suppose." I answered her. _'Leo?' _Nothing but silence for my effort. I frowned, it didn't feel like it was being blocked. I looked down at my hand and saw that I still had the ring, then I quickly pulled if off and hid it, in my bra of course. Marina narrowed her eyes and did the same with hers. Had no idea if they were that smart to think of taking them, but didn't want to risk it. The trackers would still work even if we weren't wearing them. "Nothing." I then told her questioning look.

"Maybe we are too far for you to reach." She suggested. "We flew for quite awhile."

"Possible." I sighed before I got up and joined her. "Any luck trying to find us a way out?"

"Not really." She sighed. "If I had Donnie's toolkit I'm sure I could make us a way out. I don't even have my knives to use as a damn screwdriver."

"Yeah, I noticed they disarmed us." I laughed a little humorlessly over that. "Like I could do anything to them with my asps."

"I know how you feel. Still, I can't help but wonder why we aren't, well, a pile of mush."

"I'm not sure either." I muttered as I looked over the room we were kept in. It was much smaller than the room we had found the hostages in, but no real way out of here from what I could see. Not even a damn vent. One wall was made of some kind of clear material, looked like heavy duty plexiglass or something, and it faced a larger room full of all kinds of large equipment. And I didn't have a clue what any of it did. I did notice that along the top were some holes drilled into the clear material. "Marina, you getting the feeling like this is something they would keep pets in?"

"Or testing specimens."

"Now that's a cheery thought." I said as I gave the plexiglass a probing push. Yeah...it didn't budge, didn't think it would. I gave it a good kick, more out of frustration than out of any desire to get the fuck out. "Dammit..."

"Feel better?" Marina asked me.

"Not really." I sighed as I leaned against the wall I just kicked.

"Didn't think you would." She muttered.

"Lord, I should have stayed home for this one." I muttered back.

"Vicky, stop. You know as well as I do that you never would have, just like I wouldn't have stayed behind. Whining about the choice now isn't going to help us."

"Mikey gets away with it." I grinned at her.

"And I can smack you like Raph does him too, if you want to go that route." She raised a brow at me.

"No thanks."

"Figured you might see it my way."

I just laughed a little before I resumed looking over our pretty little pet cage. "Whens the last time time someone was in here?"

"There was one of those big toasters in here about an hour ago. Wasn't the same one who caught us though."

"So, Starscream just dropped us and ran, huh. Figures."

Whatever she was about to say was cut off as the door opened and three large bots stepped into the room. My heart dropped to my stomach when they did. One was our chicken shit kidnapper, but he wasn't really the one I was worried about. The next one to come in gave me more than a little bit of a fright as he walked in and I took in the single red eye. "Shockwave..." I whispered to Marina, more than a little scared now.

"Who's he?"

"Someone who make Bishop look like an innocent kindergartner."

The third one to come in was the leader of the Decepticons himself, Megatron. Another shiver of fear ran down my spine as he fixed us with his red eyed gaze and an evil smirk made it's way onto his face. "Well now, it seems we have some Autobot pets in our midst. I would offer you some refreshments, but you won't live long enough to enjoy them. Shockwave, see what information you can gather from our 'guests'."

"As you wish, Lord Megatron." The ugly cyclops said as he walked towards us.

We were in a world of shit. We had to find a way out of here, we didn't have a choice if we wanted to live.

.

.

**-You mean to tell me he went with you?! He is in no condition to be going anywhere! I let that reptile out of my sight for a few moments and he is out going on missions that could further extend his injuries! When I get my servos on him-** Ironhide cut the connection, he really didn't feel like listening to the rampaging med-bot at the moment.

"Leo did try to tell him." The human, Casey, said with a grin. "But Mikey has a stubborn streak in him

Leonardo just grunted as he looked out the window as they drove. Hide was following Jazz who was once again traveling with Donatello. He hadn't said more than two words since they had started out. When they were preparing what they needed he had been, somewhat, fine. Now that there was nothing to do but pass the empty miles to try and catch up with the Seeker he had grown surly and quiet. Casey and Raphael exchanged quick, worried glances at his demeanor.

**-How much farther?-** Sideswipe came over next, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

**-Still awhile.-** Jazz answered. **-No matta how fast we go, air always trumps ground travel.-**

**-We need rocket boosters.- **Came the mumbled response.

**-Idiot.- **His twin said then.** -You can't even drive in a straight line. Give you rocket boosters and your dumbaft will crash into a fraggin mountain.-**

"Hey, that kinda sounds like something Mikey would do." Raphael grinned.

"Maybe why Donnie hasn't invented one yet." Casey grinned back at him.

Ironhide sighed in frustration. It was bad enough he had to deal with those fragging twins, now these clowns were starting up their antics. He was about to tell them to shut their annoying chatter up when suddenly he was hit by something hard enough to make him swerve on the road at the same time Leonardo took in a sudden breath. Pain washed over him, pain and fear. _'Vicky!' _He heard his passenger cry out to her. But there was once again no reply, only the feelings.

**-Hide!-** Jazz cut in his thoughts. **-What's wrong?-**

**-We need to move faster.- **He replied. They couldn't waste anymore time puttering around. The silence had finally been broken, but what was coming over the bond was not what any of them wanted. He knew if it silenced again it was because she wasn't among the living anymore.

**-Gonna attract attention if we do.-**

**-Blast the humans and their speed laws! Move! Now!-**

Jazz didn't argue with him anymore about it and laid on a burst of speed that they normally didn't use, with the others easily keeping up.

"Leo, you ok man?" Casey asked the now trembling turtle sitting in the driver's seat. Trembling from rage and fear Hide could tell through the now reopened bond between them.

He didn't answer his friend, but reached out again instead. _'Hang on dear one. We are coming, just hang on.'_


	15. Chapter 15

He threw me back into the cage like a damn ragdoll, but that didn't hurt nearly as much as what he just got done doing to me. God, everything hurt. I had no idea how and why I was still conscious but I could have sworn I felt Leo, just for a moment. But I was in too much pain to tell for certain. I really hate electricity. I was never going near that shit again, nope, never, no way in fucking hell, not even to turn on a damn light switch. Add that along with trees as 'things to avoid the rest of my life'. Damn... '_Leo, please be there. Please...' _Nothing. Or? I felt the twinges of something, like small minnows flopping around the edges of a large pool. _'Leo?'_

"Impressive." I heard Megatron say as Marina was tossed in next to me and landed with a groan. I brought my attention back to my current predicament. "I didn't think the parasite species of this world could tolerate so much."

"They do seem to be more resilient than other humans I have worked on." Shockwave agreed with him. "There is no logical explanation for them to still be functioning." That's because we aren't your normal humans you asshats. "They have raised my curiosity, I shall keep them and study them further."

"Do not get sidetracked, Shockwave. You can amuse yourself with them _after_ you find out what they know."

"Yes, my lord." Shockwave replied as the leader turned to leave the room. "I must compliment you, Starscream." He then turned to the Dorito looking robot. "For once you have brought me something of great interest. It almost makes up for your incompetence for being unable to destroy a single Autobot. If you will excuse me, I need to gather some things to make them more forthcoming with information." He didn't wait for an answer as he walked out.

Even as fucked up and in pain as I was, I kept an eye on the last remaining Con as he watched Shockwave leave. You could clearly see the rage on his face. I didn't know what was more predictable, the fact that he screwed up by his half successful mission or the fact that he was getting angry because he was now getting teased for it. In his defense, they should know better by now than to let Doritohead lead anything. He's gonna mess it up, one way or another. Struggling to my feet and leaning heavily on the side of our cage, I was now going to try and use his short temper against him and prove it yet once again.

"Hey, Screamer! Sounds like you fucked up again. You mean to tell me they destroyed over half of your armada, and you didn't even get _one_ Autobot? Dude, seriously, you suck."

"What are you doing, Vicky?!" Marina hissed at me from where she was struggling to get up herself.

"I got you, didn't I?" He turned his head to glare at me.

"Oh whoopty doo. Big bad Doritohead Starscream caught two poor wittle humans. Probably because he's too much of a damn coward to take on someone his own size." I was ignoring the strangled noises Marina was making, she probably was thinking I was going nuts or something.

"Silence you!"

"What's the matter Sir Fucksitupalot? Can't handle the fact that it's the truth?" By now I had him stomping over to the cage, and Marina was trying to crawl to the back of it, as far away from him as she could get. Dude was pissed, but not pissed enough, yet.

I just stared him down as he drew closer, refusing to let the fear I felt inside show. "I said be quiet!"

"No you didn't stupid, you said silence." Then I grinned at him. "But I can't expect someone as dumb as you to remember that far back."

He was pissed now, very pissed. In a rage his fist shot out and hit the wall, right next to the plexiglass. I heard the tell tale crack, but he was too angry to pay attention to what just happened. I tried to hide my smile as he turned and stormed from the room and once he did I collapsed back to the floor, shaking from fear and pain.

"Have you lost your fucking mind!" Marina snapped at me once he was gone. "He could have killed you!"

"No, then he would have gone against his boss. Even he isn't that stupid." Ignoring the pain again, I forced myself up and walked over to the side of the cage where I heard the crack and I gave it a gentle push, and this time it gave way a little. Not much, but enough for us to hopefully work with. "Marina, I need you."

She was quickly by my side and I pushed on it again and her eyes narrowed. "Think we can finish what he started?"

I sighed as I shrugged. "We have too, I seriously doubt that we will be in the condition to try later."

"Ok, we are going to have to hit it hard, right against where it meets the wall. The crack is running along the seam and we need to widen it so we can squeeze through."

I just nodded in agreement. "You go high, I'll go low." And together we did just that. It took us a few hits, between our aching bodies and the strength of the stuff it wasn't easy. "Come on!" I growled in frustration as I kicked it again, putting everything I had into it just as Marina's leg hit above mine again. Finally we were rewarded with another crack, a larger one this time and the plexiglass was clearly bowed out from the frame a little.

Marina gave it a push and it easily moved out far enough for us to worm our way out. "Go." I told her. "I'm right behind you." She just nodded quickly and began to push herself through. And once she was, she dropped out of sight and I quickly followed her out. It was tight, but I managed to scramble out and followed her lead by dropping down to the ledge below us.

"Now what?" She asked.

"We get the hell out of here." I looked over the ledge to the floor that was quite aways down. "Oh boy, this is going to hurt..." Then before I could change my mind, I jumped. I hit the floor hard, very hard, and tried to take some of the force off of my body by tucking myself in a roll. I came to a stop quite a distance away and tried to stand up, and felt my right ankle give out. Son of a fucking _bitch!_

"Are you sure you aren't turning Mikey on me?" She snapped as she landed near me. "That was pretty fucking stupid!"

I winced as I tried to put weight on my ankle. "Trust me, I'm paying for it now." I told her as I hissed in pain. "Where are our weapons?"

"Over there." She pointed to a table that was pushed up against the side of the wall across the room. "I'll get them."

I watched as she climbed up the damn side like some kind of monkey, then disappeared over the top. A few short moments later my asp belt came flying down, almost hitting me in the head, and she quickly followed them down. Marina already had her belt strapped on. She landed softly next to me as I strapped my own gear on. Then she supported my right side and we began to move towards the door. The door I had no idea how to open. "This is going to be interesting." I mumbled as I looked up at the large thing. "How do we get that behemoth open?"

"Very carefully." Was the unhelpful reply. "It's an automatic door, if we don't do this right we are going to get squished."

"That word seems to be popping up quite a lot lately." I said as looked over the door set up also.

"What did you expect from dealing with giant robots." Marina found what she was looking for, the door sensor, which of course was situated well above our heads. "Great..." She mumbled as she brought a knife out. Then she tossed it up right in front of the sensor and the door popped open, then slammed back shut again as the knife came back down. She caught it and tucked it back into it's sheath. "Going to have to be quick." She said as she looked around for something to throw.

"Yeah, that's not in my vocabulary right now."

She ignored me and found a small piece of metal on the floor, then went to go get it. She stood just behind me as she tossed it up and the door flew open again, and I went flying through it as she pushed me through. I hit the floor rolling just as they snapped shut behind me, cursing her under my breath. She could have at least warned me. The door flew open once again and she came diving through next to me and hit the ground in a roll as they snapped back shut. "See, it is in your vocabulary. You just needed help to find it." She grinned at me as she helped me up.

"Now who is being Mikeyish?" I mumbled to her as I limped down the hallway, with her help.

"You started it. We need to find some cover, this hallway is is too exposed."

"And quick." I added as we heard the sounds of stomping feet approaching.

"Shit, of all the times for you to hurt your ankle, you do it in the middle of an enemy base."

"So shoot me."

"I won't have too if we don't find a place to hide!" She was practically dragging me along by this point. We made it around the corner just as the footsteps stopped in the hall we just left. "Come on...there has to be somewhere to hide in this shithole!" She hissed.

"That attempt was very illogical, there is no way for you to escape." Came from right behind us and we turned to look up at our tormenter. Once again the fear hit me, hard. "I shall enjoy teaching you that." Shockwave said as he reached down for us.

.

.

"There!" Donnie pointed. "They are in that cave."

Leo looked over the natural structure as he crouched behind the rocks on top of the ridge line they were on. The cave was in a ravine on the northeast side of the state. It took them forever it seemed to get here and he hoped they were in time. He could still feel her, and he didn't like what he was feeling. "Are you sure?"

"It would make sense." Jazz spoke up from where he was laying down, peering over the ridge. "One thing our tech can't break through to good is underground bases. Somethin' about the rocks shield our scans and sensors."

"Which is why I can't reach her." Ironhide said from further back. He was too large to peek over like the smaller beings. "And why you can't as well." He told Leo as the blue eyes met each other. "Right now she is tied into Ratchet's device, and she can't penetrate the rock, just as we can't to get to her."

That confused Leo for a moment. "But what about earlier? We clearly felt her, still feel her."

"That was pure emotion," Jazz told him "not thought. Feelin's are always stronger than thought and she mighta been scared enough ta push through."

Leo's eyes narrowed as he thought it over. "Which means she's still scared if Ironhide and I can still connect with each other and we both can feel her fear." Rage filled him at that thought. What on earth could they be doing to her to make her that scared? They better hope he didn't find out. "We need to get in there."

"Why don't we just go up and knock?" Raph sarcastically asked him. "I'm sure they will just let us in."

"Why don't we do just that?" Mikey asked.

"Because that will alert the whole damn..." Leo started frustrated before he understood what Mikey was grinning at him about "base... Mikey, you are a genius."

His little brother just shrugged. "I have my moments."

Leo quickly ran the idea over in his mind, this just might work.

"What are you thinking Leo?" Raph asked him.

"We split up. The hard hitters stay out here and draw them out, while another team sneaks in."

"Leo, that's risky. As of right now there isn't another way in. We would have to sneak right in through that opening as they all come running out."

"They havta see ya to get ya." Jazz grinned. "I'll go in with ya and use the shield we used before."

"Will it work underground?"

"It should, A'hm not gonna send out. Just cover us."

"I want on Con extermination duty." Sides grinned.

"Like Ah want you in there." Jazz rolled his eyes. "Ya don't know how ta be sneaky. You, Sunstreaker and Ironhide are gonna be the welcomin' committee. I'ma need Bumblebee though."

"We go in with you then." Cris said. "The rest of us won't be much good out here and you might need some help with them, knowing Vicky's track record I almost guarantee you-" Raph slapped his hand over her mouth.

"Not the best time to be bringing that up, babe. You might jinx it."

"Then lets do this." Leo growled. Once everyone had agreed to the tasks given to them. Another wave of pain and fear hit him then and he had to struggle through it before he was able to get up. "That pompous ass of a robot better hope I don't find him." Leo growled as he got to his feet.

"If you don't find him, we'll make sure he pays for it." Sunny told him, with sympathy in his eyes. "I don't care too much for you fleshies, but what he did was inexcusable."

Ironhide put a hand on the smaller bot's shoulder. "Might be some hope for you afterall."

"Watch the-"

"Paint. I know."

Sides looked at both of them funny. "Who are you and what did you do with Ironhide and Sunny?"

Sunny smacked him upside the head. "Don't call me that!"

"Oh, there he is..." Sides grinned.

"Let's roll." Jazz said as he began to make his way down the cliff and the rest of them carefully followed. Leo had to admit he was more than a little impressed by the quiet way those two moved. Hell, they were quieter than his own family, which were already starting to bicker around him.

"Mikey! Watch where you put your damn feet! I really didn't need that rock in my eye." Raph grumbled.

"Well, then move your fat ass out of the way!"

"How about I break your other arm!"

"How about you two shut up!" Leo snapped at them. Jazz shot him an amused grin and shook his head over it all.

It was starting to get dark when they finally made it to the entrance of the cave, and Jazz turned his shield on.

"How come I can still see you guys?" Mikey asked as he did.

"Cuz Ah programmed your biosignatures in it. We can see each other, but they can't see us."

"I'll take your word for it." Mikey mumbled as Leo signaled the all clear to the top, then they all ducked, with Jazz and Bumblebee crouching over them to shield them. Once they were settled a grenade came flying in not far away and hit the wall of the ravine, sending dust and rocks flying everywhere.

That polite knock was answered by Cons running out a few moments later and alarms blaring from within. This was going to be one noisy rescue mission...

Once they were drawn out, more rounds came flying in from the ridge above them and the Cons ran off to engage them, leaving the stealth team with a now almost empty base. Jazz led the way inside and they carefully followed him in with Bumblebee bringing up the rear. Leo didn't make it far however, once he was far enough in to where the rocks no longer shielded her, her pain hit him hard and he dropped to one knee at the assault on his mind. Vicky, god...

"Leo, come on bro. We need to keep going." Mikey told him as he helped his older brother to his feet.

Leo slammed his own shield up, blocking most of the pain but leaving just enough to where he could use it to guide him before he began moving forward again. These damn things were going to pay for this if it was the last thing he did, that he silently promised them.


	16. Chapter 16

Pain, that was all I could register. And this sadistic bastard was good at dishing it out. Poor Marina had already passed out from it, and now he was concentrating on me. Once again I found myself strapped to his little sick exam table and once again he was shooting electricity through my body. Not to mention he found out real quick about my sprained ankle and seemed to take a twisted pleasure in keeping it bent in a position that caused me the most pain. But that wasn't the worst of it, he had went and got some toys to play with and they didn't look like I was going to have much fun with them.

This had been going on for I don't know how long now, a couple hours at least. I was honestly surprised I was still awake myself, it was as if something was holding onto me, trying to keep me from slipping into that same blissful black rest Marina now enjoyed.

Unfortunately that also meant I would be the first one to try out the wonderful looking device he was bringing to the table. "Your resistance only causes you more pain, speak and I will release you from it." Yeah, by killing me. How stupid did he think I was? Well, compared to him pretty stupid.

"Go fuck a garbage disposal." I managed to get out before another spike in the current hit me. He may be smarter, but I was more stubborn. And if you don't believe me, Leo will back me up on that statement. And what exactly did he want me to tell him? Autobot headquarters was out of the question, they already found that. What they were up too was still trying to be figured out. So what exactly did I have in my head that he wanted? I sure as fuck didn't know. So even if I did spill the beans I didn't have any information worthwhile to share. Either way it went, I was screwed.

He wasn't being too specific either when he asked, almost like he didn't want to spill his own bag of beans. All he asked was reworked versions of "What do you know?". Not a damn thing. Yup, I was in a nice pickle here. "You will speak," He brought some kind of blowtorch/buzz saw combination looking contraption closer to me. Had no idea what it did, but I think I was about to find out. "or you will lose an appendage."

To be honest, I really didn't care anymore. I was stubborn, but I had my limits and I was reaching them quickly. What was the point of this? Either way it went I was going to die. Might as well just piss him off and be done with it. "Fine, you want to know? I know you are a pain in my ass. That's what I know." I told him. He really cranked up the sparks after that one and the sounds of my screams rebounded off of the walls.

"Foolish human." I heard him say as pain rocked my body. He didn't just give me a shock, he left the damn button on. I just laid there, in pain, tears streaming down my face as he brought the device down. "You are obviously of no more use to me. Alive. I shall enjoy studying your remains."

At that moment the door opened and the sounds of an alarm going off I couldn't hear before came blaring into the room, but nothing else did. Until what looked like a bright blue ball of energy appeared right out of nowhere and slammed right into Shockwave, followed by two or three more hitting him in rapid succession, each shot causing him to stumble away from me a step or two. They were quickly followed up with some more rounds flying in as the stunned Decpticon tried to figure out what in the hell was going on. He returned fire at the direction the blasts were coming from, but all that happened was that they hit the now closed doors.

Then from another place in the room some more blast came ripping into him, then stopped. Shockwave turned to fire in that direction, only to hit the wall. This strange dance kept going on, but I wasn't paying any attention to it. I was too busy feeling like my insides were being microwaved, until someone killed the switch. Shaking in pain, I looked around, trying to figure out myself what in the hell was going on. Right now I couldn't tell you what one plus one added up too, much less piece together what was happening around me.

It wasn't until I felt my restraints being loosened that it began to click in my pain fogged mind. _'Leo?'_ I reached out the only way I could. It hurt too much to talk.

_'I'm here, dear one.' _Came the welcome reply._ 'I'm here.' _You can't imagine the wave of relief that came over me when I heard that.

Shockwave had by now also figured out that someone must be in here, and the reason for it. He had made it back to my table just as the last of the restraints came off. I watched as his hand reached for me, obviously to try and use me as some kind of leverage against his tormentors. He quickly pulled that hand back when something slammed into it hard enough to send sparks from it. He looked around, confused, but I managed a hurt, weak smile. I knew the hiss of that katana when it comes out of that sheath. I was willing to bet anything that Leo stabbed that motherfucker in the hand. And from the way Shockwave was now acting like he was trying to slap bugs off of him, Leo wasn't going to stop with just the hand either. Big bad Decepticon was sprouting his own mini fireworks as sparks popped out of different areas on him, sometimes in two places at once. Seems like Raph was poking and prodding around too.

Then Shockwave fell over as the sound of a metal body hitting metal body rang out into the room and I lost sight of him as he hit the floor.

"Hey, whatcha think 'bout checkin' outta this scrap motel." Jazz asked as I felt his hand scoop me up. "I dunno 'bout you, but Ah've seen 'nough." He added as he scooped up Marina. "Just give me a sec here, an' Ah'll make sure tha fragger canna find ya."

I don't know what he did, but suddenly they all popped into view. Bumblebee apparently was the one who had crashed into Shockwave, because they were still rolling around on the floor, along with Leo and Raph who were poking the hell out of that goon with their weapons any chance they got. And it looked like Leo was trying to go for the fucker's eye, but couldn't get a good swing in. It also looked like he was pissed like a sonofabitch.

Donnie was playing around on the computer in the room, when he wasn't shooting worried glances Marina's way. And what in the hell was Mikey doing here? He shouldn't be out here with his arm still healing. Cris and Casey were in the process of getting our stuff, I'm thinking that was more Cris' idea than his though. She knew how attached I was to those asps.

Finally Shockwave managed to get Bee off with a lucky shove, and with a quick glance and nod in our direction, he backed off along with the two turtles.

It was about that time Casey started throwing his hockey puck bombs around the room to distract Shockwave from our departure as the rest of the group made it's way to the door. The Con kept his wits about him enough to take a shot in that direction as they opened, and Jazz was the unfortunate one who got nailed with it on the way out. He rolled with the hit, trying to keep us out of harms way as he did, and quickly got back to his feet again as Bumblebee aimed for the locking mechanism to the door just as it slammed shut and blew it all to hell. Wasn't sure if that would hold the Con long, but at least he couldn't come after us right now. "Fragger." Jazz mumbled as he ran. "We got ah problem. He took ou' tha shield."

"Well isn't that just dandy." Raph complained. "Stuck in the middle of their base and now they can all see us."

"Jus' gonna havta make sure they don' then." Jazz grinned down at him. After quickly looking around he knelt down. "Take 'em," He told Leo and Donnie, carefully handing Marina and I to them. "Ah migh' need mah hands pretty quick."

"I told you she was going to get hurt." Cris said to Raph.

"And I told you that you would jinx it." He quipped right back.

I ignored them as I held onto Leo with what little strength I could muster up. I leaned my face into his chest as his arms gently held me close, and I began to cry. I was just so happy to see him and mix that up with what Marina and I had just been through, I lost it. I felt him place a quick kiss on the top of my head before we moved on, that simple gesture comforting me to no end.

The place was a maze, not that I was paying much attention to it anyway, but Jazz confidently led the way as Bee watched our tailpipes. They kept a pace that was quick, but one we could keep up with. Well, I should say the others could keep up with since I was hitching a ride.

Jazz stopped at a T intersection in the corridors and took a quick peek around the bend to the right. "Scrap..." He muttered.

"What?" Raph asked him.

"Alarm is drawin' tha Cons back in. They ignorin' tha others now and lookin' fer us. Way out's blocked."

Suddenly Bumblebee made a noise that sounded a lot like 'uh oh' before he ducked and a round hit the wall behind him. He quickly turned and sent some plasma blasts at the Cons coming up from behind us.

"Somebody think of something!" Casey hissed. "I really don't like being the filler in this Con sandwich!"

"The ceiling!" Donnie suddenly said. "Take it down! It's not affecting our way out and it will block the ones in this corrider off!"

"Which only leaves us with the ones up front!" Raph snapped. "And us with nowhere to go!"

"You got a better idea?"

"No."

"At least this way we won't have to worry about our asses." Mikey said.

"Do it!" Leo snapped and Casey just shook his head and launched some hockey pucks up there, since he was the only one with boom booms not currently shootin at Cons. By now Jazz was trying to hold off the ones in front of us that had been alerted by all the noise.

The pucks made a nice racket as they went off, but really didn't do anything to help with our current situation. I guess his pucks couldn't take on rock. Bee just gave Casey an incredulous look as he was showered with pebbles, and nothing else. "Hey, I'm trying!" Casey snapped up at the bot.

Bee just adjusted his aim and let loose on the ceiling himself, firing round after round, while trying to dodge the incoming fire aimed for him. His luck didn't hold out to good though as he was blasted in the shoulder just as the ceiling came down in front of, and on some, of the Cons. There was a wave of dust that washed over us and set us all into coughing fits, which really didn't help my already aching body.

"Bee! You ok buddy?" Mikey asked as Bee got back to his feet. He was answered with a quick nod of the head before Bee rushed forward to help Jazz.

"Anyone else getting the feeling we are a little out of our league here?" Cris asked, still coughing, as she watched the two Autobots fight for our way out.

"Nope." Raph said as he made a mad dash towards the Cons.

"You get back here!" She screamed after him. "If you get hurt I'm not carrying your lard ass!" Then her dumbass ran after his dumbass.

Leo had by now placed me onto the floor, somewhat out of the way. I held onto him, really not wanting to let him go and he gently removed my hands. His eyes had lit up with that blue fire I knew so well when he was pissed. He wanted out, and they were in the way. He was about to show them that might not be such a good idea. "Stay with them." He told Mikey as Donnie placed Marina next to me. I could tell Mikey was about to protest, but one good look at Leo and he just nodded. Then the two brothers followed the third.

"Well shit...since everyone else is going..." Casey ran to catch up to the others.

"How you doin'?" Mikey asked as he knelt down next to me.

"Feel like shit." I honestly replied, my voice cracking a little. And that was an understatement. Everything was screaming at me and my ankle had by now picked up a painful throb.

"You look like it too." I didn't feel like bantering with him just then, but I did give him a slight smile for his efforts. He didn't seem to mind though as he checked Marina over. She looked about as bad as I felt. "Man, that crazyass robot did a number on you two."

I was about to reply when there was an explosion coming from the corridor where the fight was, then a detached Con head came bouncing by like some freaky basketball. "Shit! Casey! Watch where you throw them damn things!" Raph's voice came next.

"You quit getting in my way when I throw them!"

"Got some more coming from the other way!" I heard Cris shout.

Damn it! I felt so goddamn helpless as they struggled to hold off Cons coming at them from both ends of that T intersection now. I saw Bumblebee dash across the opening and head left before he did a dive and roll maneuver and came up firing as enemy fire shot through the air where he had been standing a moment before. "Houston, we have a problem." He played as he kept firing. There were too many incoming shots for him to get a clear shot at the ceiling to bring it down like he did this corridor and even his unlimited patience was quickly fading fast.

"You noticed...how nice..." Raph said sarcastically.

I struggled to get up, I had to do something, I just couldn't sit here while they were trying to get us all out. A firm hand on my shoulder pushed me back down."No Vicky, you're not going to do any of them any good like this and all you will do is make Leo worry more." Mikey told me then. "He's worried enough as it is."

I looked up at him with frustration, but I knew he was right. There was nothing I could do to help.

There was a loud crash as another Con fell where I could see it, this one with Leo and Donnie standing on it's shoulders as it fell before flipping off before it hit. "Hey! It worked!" Donnie chirped cheerfully.

"Yes, but your gadget leaves a lot to be desired if I have to cover your ass so you can postion it." Leo told him. Then he quickly tackled Donnie out of the way as a Con tried to take a few cheap shots at the seemingly distracted turtles.

They came to a stop near me just as Jazz retreated back into our little cubby hole, followed by Raph, Cris and Casey before he turned and started helping Bee with the other side. "Vicky, I swear to god if we get out of this alive, I'm going to kill you!" Cris griped at me. "Why is it always your dumbass that has to get caught?"

"Hey..." Marina said weakly and we all looked to her to see her awake. "She wasn't the only one."

"No, but right now she holds the record."

"Enough Cris." Leo told her firmly as he scooped me up. "We gotta move. The way out is clear, for now."

"Yah better hurry, canna hol' 'em back much longer." Jazz said as he kept up his barrage .

"Not going to argue with that." Donnie said as he picked Marina up.

"Go!" Leo snapped and we hauled ass, jumping and dodging the the Con bodypart obstacle course, down the corridor. Now that he had some help, Bee brought the ceiling down behind us and right after he did the sounds of their heavy footsteps followed us.

They quickly passed us to take the lead, and dispatching any Cons and drones they encountered. It wasn't long after that when the exit came into view, a sight I was really happy to see. Right up until the point we figured out there were more Cons blocking it.

Without even pausing, Bee leapt forward and transformed down into his vehicle mode and hauled ass towards them, dodging the shots aimed his way. He crashed into the group like a bowling ball running into bowling pins, knocking quite a few of them down before he went back into bot mode and tore into them. He punched one in the face then kicked it back into another before he spun towards another. Seeing that this one was about to open fire on his head, he ducked, and the blast meant for him took out the one coming up behind him. Then Bee shot the one who shot at him in the gut.

Jazz was there in an instant, his smaller size not hindering him in the slightest as he lept onto the back of another and ripped it's head off. "Always said drones ain' worth havin'. They quick ta break." He said as he went to go pester another one.

Bee kinda just looked around at the sheer numbers of what they were dealing with and glared at Jazz. "Captain, we are surrounded by enemy warships!"

"Course, them out numberin' us migh' make up fer it." Jazz conceded. Even in the middle of a fight Bee managed to facepalm.

"He's been hanging out with you guys too much." Cris grinned at Leo and I. "He's learned the wonderful art of facepalming."

Leo ignored her as he quickly looked around. "This way." He began to lead us alongside the ravine wall, trying to out maneuver the skirmishing bots around us.

We had almost broke clear of the stomping mess when we found ourselves blocked in by a Decepticon that had landed in front of us. Leo glared up at the large thing blocking our way and he held me closer to him. "Leaving so soon?" Starscream asked. "Shockwave would be disappointed if you left the party now. I'm afraid that I'll have to insist that you stay." The blaster he had aimed at us really didn't give us the option to argue with him about it.


	17. Chapter 17

"Get. Out. Of. My. Way." Leo growled at the Con in front of us. _"Now." _

His tone really should have been a clue for Screamer to listen, but of course he didn't. Then the dumbass had the nerve to laugh at Leo of all things. "Or what, you disgusting thing?" He had that evil smirk plastered all over his face again as his weapon charged up with an eerie whine. "Please, do tell me what you are going to do?"

"Not a damn thing." Leo replied. "But he is." He nodded with his head towards the dark shadow moving in the night behind him. Was actually surprised the big bot slipped past Screamer. I mean he should have seen him coming as he landed...right? But then again, this _was_ Starscream we were talking about here.

Of course the idiot had to turn and look, and caught a black fist right in his face. "I do believe he told you to move." Hide said as he nailed him again. "Let me help you with that." He then picked the Seeker up and chunked him into the group Bee and Jazz were still trying to hold off. He collided into them and they ended up in a large twisted pile of arms, legs, wings and curse words as they all struggled to get back up again.

"Look Sunny. A Con buffet." Came from above us. I could barely make out the outlines of two more bots standing on top of the ridge, but I could clearly see their blue eyes turn a deep bluish purple as they glared at the Decepticons buffet spread below them. "Dinner time boys!" Sides sneered.

"And I'm hungry for energon." Sunny followed up. Then they both cannon ball jumped off of the cliff, right into the middle of the pile of Cons, who were now trying to frantically get the hell out of the way. For some reason no one wanted to stick around to play with the twins. Might have something to do with the fact that they were literally tearing them apart.

"Holy mother of god..." Cris breathed as she watched them. "I knew they were good, and vicious, in a fight...but damn..."

"Took ya long enough!" Jazz told Hide as he and Bee broke away from the commotion.

"Needed to make sure all of them were occupied with you to get them in one place." Ironhide replied, way too innocently, as he started firing on the Cons. "Didn't want one sneaking up on us."

"Sure..." Jazz rolled his eyes.

"You blasted meddling Autobots!" Scream yelled frustrated as he was dodging Hide's blasts, Sides' blades and Sunny's beatdown.

"I want a piece of _that_ motherfucker." Leo growled at his direction, his eyes burning. He didn't go though, just kept his tight hold on me as he tried to get us out of the way.

"I think that can be arranged." Raph grinned, then took off, again. What the hell was with him wanting to beat up on Cons tonight?

"Raph!" Cris yelled at him, and he ignored her just like last time as he nimbly dodged the moving parts of scrap metal to get to his target. It didn't help matters that Mikey went after him, determined not to be left out of this one.

"Shit!" Leo spat as he watched his hot headed and goofy brothers attach themselves to Starscream, just as he took off after transforming. "For the love of...Get off you two!" He roared as Starscream lifted himself higher. The only answer he got was Mikey's Whooo hooo!

Sides and Sunny looked at each other a quick moment, then the silver twin was launched into the air by the yellow one and he too went for a ride on the Seeker.

"I'm seriously going to hurt them!" Leo grumbled as he once again began running.

"Don' worry 'bout it." Jazz grinned at him, taking another shot at a Con as he tried to cover our get away. "Sides' can handle it, he won' let 'em get hurt. Too bad."

"That is one thing we can agree on." Hide said amused. "If anyone can handle a Seeker in flight, it's the twins. Single or as a pair."

Leo just sighed and shook his head.

Meanwhile, there was pieces of metal starting to come flying off of Starscream as he tried to shake his unwanted passengers. He tilted enough to where I could see Mikey and Raph tearing open holes that Sides had made in the Con's plating as he gripped the Con with his legs. Between Sides tearing him apart and the extra weight Starscream wasn't able to fly off too far, or too high. He ended up circling the fight right above the rim of the canyon we were in, and I watched in pain filled amusement the antics going on above us.

"What the frag are you doing Autobot!" Starscream screeched as he panicked. "I don't kiss on the first date, let alone take off my plating for worthless scum like you!"

Sideswipe laughed a cold laugh at him. "Sunny and I got a bet goin'! I got 400 creds riding on you being a femme, Con! Now hold still fragger!" Of course the flying idiot didn't oblige but began to twist and swerve wildly in the air.

Raph then jabbed his weapons into Screamer and was holding on for dear life. "How do you steer this motherfucker!?"

"You don't!" Sides grinned. "That's the fun part!"

"You're insane!"

Sides laughed hysterically as their ride dove unexpectedly. "I knooooooow!"

"He's insane?" Mikey glared at Raph from where he was holding onto the wing. "You were the first one to hop on this damn boat!"

"I am not a boat, you disgusting reptile! Now get the frag _off_ of me!"

"You are too a boat! A dorito boat full of ranch dip!"

Raph and Sides stared at Mikey in disbelief that he actually said that before Screamer began to shake his wing, flapping Mikey up and down like a bouncy ball. "A dorito boat with attitude!" Mikey grinned. "I like my girls spunky! Hey Sides! You figure out if it _is_ a girl yet?"

Sides tore off more paneling. "Still working on it!" Was the reply before Starscream shrieked like a girl suddenly. "Getting closer!" Sides then laughed as they flew out of my view over the canyon rim.

"We need ta get outta this thang." Jazz was saying to Ironhide. "Othawise they goin' ta be up our afts tha whole way."

"Take them up." Was the gruff reply. "We will cover you." Then he turned and opened fire on the approaching Cons behind us with Sunny and Bee flanking him on either side. Then they turned up the heat, laying down a cover fire so fierce between the three of them that the drones that were left didn't last long, and the Con masters controlling them went scrambling for cover as the canyon lit up.

"Hold on." Jazz told the rest of us.

"To what?" Casey asked him.

"Ta me. Ah'll carry ya'll up."

"All of us?"

"Don' have time to lay ah rope. Jus' get on."

And so we did. It must have looked more than a little humorous as Jazz was covered in organic idiots. "God damn it Casey! You stepped on my fingers!" Cris snapped.

"Why is it always your body parts that get in my way? Do you do this on purpose just to piss me off?"

"Why do you insist on stepping right where I have a body part! Should have left your dumbass in the damn suitcase!"

"Enough!" Ironhide thundered looking over his shoulder at them. "You two get your glitched gears moving and go!" He was rewarded for his distraction by getting hit with an incoming round, then another and he tumbled to the ground. Bee and Sunny quickly opened fire on the offending Con and he didn't get a chance to celebrate his hit before he was nailed himself a few times.

"Hide!" I cried out to the downed bot, struggling to get down as Leo held me firm against him. I had to make sure he was alright...

**-I'm fine.-** He growled inside of my head. And to prove his point, he stubbornly got back up and opened fire again. **-Go. We will follow shortly.-**

_'But...'_

**-Go, I said!- **He snapped irritably at me as he blew a Con apart.

_'He's right, dear one. We need to get out of here before we are all overwhelmed.'_

I just sighed in frustration as Leo climbed up onto Jazz. He wedged me against the Autobot's frame, holding my body in place with his own as he held on. Once he had all of his parasites in place, Jazz swiftly began to climb the side of the cliff, his powerful fingers easily finding, or making, spots to grab onto to haul himself up. A round hit the cliff wall next to his head, showering us all with dirt, but he didn't stop and soon we were at the top.

Once we were all down, Jazz then turned and opened fire as the other Autobots began to climb up, having to go up one at a time to keep the cover fire going. Bee was more than ready to get out of there, but there was a quick squabble between the other two.

"Get up there!" Hide snapped at Sunny.

"Not a chance." Sunny growled back. "Fraggin' Cons scraped my paint..."

"I'll do more than scrape your paint if you don't get up there!" Steam puffed out of Hide's nose as he huffed irritably. "Now!"

"Move Sunstreaker!" Jazz pitched in and mumbling to himself the yellow bot finally gave in.

Finally we all made it to the top, Hide being the last one up. When he did finally roll over the edge, I could clearly see the bright blue fluid slowly dripping out of his side before he covered the spot with his hand. Other than that, he ignored his wound. "Where is Sideswipe?"

Grinning Jazz pointed up at the still circling Starscream.

There was another girly squeal coming from that direction before he apparently finally had enough. He went into a steep dive, speeding towards the ground. It seemed to me like he was fully intent to plaster all three of them into the ravine wall.

Sides was too experienced for this trick however. When they were close to the ground, Sides reached out and pulled up on the altitude flaps on the wings, causing Starscream to pitch violently skyward again, and the added drag on his frame slowed him down considerably. "Jump!" Sides yelled at his co-passengers as they hit the ground in a skid.

Mikey and Raph didn't argue the point and did as they were told, hitting the ground in hard rolls as they landed. Just in time too as Screamer spun and toppled over, knocking Sides' hold on him loose as his jet mode turned into a half bot, half plane contraption from the force of the impact.

Sides was astonishingly quick enough to grab onto a leg before Starscream went back airborne again, taking Sideswipe with him back up.

"Well, that was fun." Raph said as he and Mikey came to a stop, spitting out dirt. Then he looked back up in disbelief. "_Now_ what is that crazy motherfucker doing?"

"Bein' Sideswipe." Jazz grinned as we moved closer.

I guess "Being Sideswipe" involved hanging off of a half transformed Seeker's leg as he got spun around in the air. He had a death grip on that leg and Starscream was seriously trying to shake him off. Both of them filling the air around them with curse words, in english and in cybertronian.

Screamer did manage to dislodge the Sides after a hard, tight turn, aided with a kick from the other leg. Not even Sides' iron grip could keep up with that kind of force, but he still wasn't going to give up as a small pistol like weapon suddenly came into view. Snarling at the Con, he unloaded that weapon to the point where it overheated and began smoking. And when it refused to fire anymore he threw it after the now fleeing Starscream before he hit the ground, hard. It all happened so fast you would have missed it if you blinked.

"Fragger!" A frustrated Sides yelled at the fast disappearing Starscream.

"Wheeljacks na gonna like tha fact that ya threw his invention away." Jazz grinned as he helped Sideswipe up.

"It didn't work half the fraggin time anyway..." Sides huffed, still staring at the retreating Con.

Jazz just shook his head, grinning. "C'mon. It's time ta go 'for tha Cons make it up here."

"I hope they do." Sides growled. "I'm not done playing yet."

"I'd rather they didn't." Ironhide cut him off as he transformed down to vehicle mode and opened his doors and Bee followed suit.

"Aw, you're taking all the fun out of this Daddy." Sides grinned.

Ironhide choose not to answer that.

Leo walked over to the black truck and gently sat me down in the backseat before Raph came walking up with Mikey, tossing something to his elder brother. "What's this?" Leo asked.

"You said you wanted a piece of him...there you go."

Leo just looked at the piece he was holding and shook his head. He was about to say something when Sides bust out laughing. "You managed to get your hands on his codpiece!" He howled.

Suddenly Leo just threw the thing back at Raph, not wanting to touch it anymore and getting back at his brother for the headache. Raph managed to duck it though and it flew right over him to hit Mikey upside the head. "Ow!" Came out of his mouth before he bent to pick up the thrown object. "I don't get it, what's a codpiece?"

"Well, did you at least see if he was a femme?" Sides grinned at Raph.

Raph threw his hands in the air. "Hell I didn't know I was yankin' his fuckin jock strap off!" He shivered in disgust. "Thats just messed up man! How the hell are ya supposed to know what's where with these guys? Friggin robots... At least with humans shit stays where it's supposed to.. you know exactly what you're dealin' with! Man, I need a shower! I feel so dirty! Or better yet, I need a shower and a priest!"

"I don't think a priest would help." Leo told him as he turned back to me to hide his amused look from his hot headed brother.

"Its worth a try. _Fuck!_"

By now we were all cracking up. Lord it hurt to laugh but I couldn't stop. Leo tried to calm me down as he tried to calm himself down at the same time. Hell, even the damn truck was bouncing as Hide laughed his ass off.

"It's not funny!" Raph yelled at us.

"It is to us!" Sides replied.

Mikey finally put two and two together. "Eeeww!" He dropped the piece back to the ground then gave it a good kick to get it as far away as he could.

Trying to get his own laughter under control Jazz spoke up. "Ahm gonna burst an energon line... Can yah imagine ol screamer standin there, damn near naked, holdin' 'imself while he explains ta Megatron that he failed _again_!? Primus, Ah wish Ah coul see it mahself!

That made us laugh even harder for some reason...until someone took a potshot at us, hitting the ground not far away. We all looked to see Cons starting to come up over the ridge.

"Time to go!" Mikey said as he and Donnie dived into Bee where Marina was already situated. The rest of them scrambled to get into whatever Autobot they could and our large friends slammed on the gas. Tail ends fishtailing wildly and rocks and dust flying every which way they shot forward with an astonishing burst of speed, quickly outdistancing the threat behind us.

Leo then ignored the Cons behind us, his attention was now focused on me as he fully took in my battered appearance. Hide had moved the driver's seat forward to where he had room to move as he gently laid me down in the back seat and began a more thorough look over.

"How is she?" Raph asked from where he was in the front passenger seat, turned to look back at us.

"I'm fine Raph." I managed at him.

"You are not 'fine' femme!" Hide snapped at me. I kinda forgot the big guy could feel my whole body screaming bloody murder at me, lord everything hurt...

"I guess that answers that." Raph said with a smile. "Can't fool the robot in your head."

Leo didn't say anything as he kept up his inspection, removing clothing items that got in his way. My boots hit the floorboard with a thump. His breath became an angry hiss as he saw the burns left on my wrists and ankles from those damn shock restraints, and other fun toys Shockwave used. Dude live up to his name that's for sure. He didn't look too happy about my swollen ankle either.

He began cutting the clothing away from the worst of the sites, having to cut around numerous patches that already began to dry into the wounds. He was cursing softly he worked and he really wasn't leaving me with much to leave on. "Leo!" I blushed as he cut up a large portion of my shirt, once again having to cut around numerous sites where my clothes had become a permanent fixture on my body. He found my ring and tucked it securely away since my hands were in no shape to be wearing anything.

"Hush." He told me. "Now isn't the time for modesty."

After grinning widely, Raph had prudently turned his attention forward again. Asshole.

"Ironhide, is there anyway you can patch me through to Donnie?" Leo asked as he took off my belt then undid my pants.

"Leo!" I tried again.

"I said hush!" He snapped back at me.

"Of course. Let me comm Bumblebee." Hide answered, ignoring our squabble. "He can hear you, go ahead."

"Donnie?"

**-I'm here.-**

"Vicky is covered in burns and swelling up pretty bad. What do I do?"

**-Marina is the same way. Get those clothes off of those burns spots or they will stick into the wounds and make it worse. If it has already stuck you need to cut around the burn site. The swelling is a result from the burns and more than likely also from the mutagen in her system fighting back so you will need to loosen any restraining items, or just take them off. Mainly things like her boots and belt so they don't cut off the blood flow.-**

"Already did that. Anything else?"

**-Keep an eye on the points where she was restrained at. When anyone gets shocked their muscles tend to twitch violently, and with her being restrained the way she was she might have fractures, or even broken bones in those areas.-**

"Is there anything I can do treatment wise?" I tried really hard not to squeal as he cut large portions of my pants off. I was going to kill him! If I didn't die of embarrassment first.

**-Right now, no. We don't have the time to stop, or the supplies with us. I have a little bit with me but not enough to do what needs to be done. We need to get them to safety before I can do anything.-**

**-Tha' might take abit.- **Jazz cut in.** -We got company comin' ta say hi. Cons ain' ready ta give up yet.-**

The seatbelts snapped around my torso and legs at the sound of that. "Hold on!" Hide told his other two passengers just as the first rounds came flying in and he swerved to the side. They hit the ground, sending dirt flying high into the night air.

**-See what happens when you don't let me stay to play with my friends?-** Sides said **-They get mad and chase us!-**

"Can it fragger!" Hide snapped at him, swerving again. I let out a groan of pain as the movement aggravated my already hurting body. Leo did the best he could to hold me steady, but had a hard time keeping himself from falling on top of me to do much good. He did managed to keep my head from ramming into the door though.

"Why is it every time we try to leave someone's base with you we always end up in a damn car chase?" Raph asked.

"Probably the same reason why we end up in some kind of chase when we leave any base." Leo answered before Hide could. "Turtle luck running true to form again."

"Too bad it's hardly ever good luck." Raph muttered. Really couldn't disagree with him on that one as we once again found ourselves in quite a predicament.

I couldn't see what exactly was going on between being strapped down and Leo hovering over me, but I gathered it wasn't good by the sounds of jets passing overhead.

"Shit." Raph muttered from the front seat as he caught sight of them. "There are about ten or twelve of them up there."

"Consider us lucky thats all there is." Hide told him.

**-Keep goin'!-** Jazz came over the comm link.

**-Why not stay and fight?-** Sides asked frustrated.

**-We stickin' tagetha on this one. We canna stop and engage, got injured to worry 'bout. An' gettin' split up out here isna good idea at the moment. Speed is our best chance.-**

**-So we are running? From Cons? You have got to be fragging kidding me!-** Sunny snapped.

**-Trust me. We ain' gonna be runnin' from them for long.-** Jazz said slyly.

"That sneaky mech is up to something." Hide muttered as the roar of jet engines came closer once again.

"Is that a good thing? Or bad?" Raph asked him.

"Depends on if it works or not."

"That's a helpful answer." Leo sighed.

**-Follow me.-** Jazz then said as I heard him speed past Hide, his dust trail rising high.

**-The road is the other way!-** Sides yelled at him.

**-Not aimin' for tha road!-**

**-You feel like filling us in?-**

**-An ruin tha sahprise?-**

**-I'm getting dust and dirt everywhere.-** Sunny grumbled. **-It's going to take me forever to get it all off.-**

**-And it chafes.- Sides added. -I hate it when it chafes.-**

"Will you two quit complaining for two minutes!" Hide exploded.

**-Someone is in a pissy mood.-**

"I'll show you pissy if you don't shut the frag up!"

"They are as bad as you and Mikey." Leo said amused to Raph.

"I know, and it's kinda scary."

Again Ironhide swerved to avoid the incoming fire and Leo had to hold onto me as the truck rocked hard when a round hit the ground next to us, followed by another. The hard shaking caused me to slip out of the seat belts and Leo caught me and held me close to him as he braced himself. At least I could see now what was going on, but wasn't sure I wanted too. "Jazz!" the black bot roared.

**-Almos' there!-**

"I almost lost my tail end!"

**-Their aim does seem to be getting better, those almost took Hide out.-**

"How nice of you to state the obvious, Sideswipe!"

"Here they come again!" Raph kindly informed us.

"Frag it all!" Hide was seriously getting pissed off.

Something caught my eye as we sped along. In front of us there was a rising dust cloud, casting an eerie color as it was lit up by the moon in the night sky. "What's that?" I pointed towards it.

"I'm not sure." Leo replied as we watched the cloud rapidly growing closer. It wasn't long before we could make out as shape at the base of it as we grew closer, and hope peeked it's way into our desperate situation as the shape seemed to fan out into several, flanking the large one in the center.

**-Sideswipe! Sunstreaker! Ya can go play now.-** Jazz informed the twins.

**-Wait, you told us not too! Make up your mind!-** Sides griped at him.

**-Tha rules jus' changed.-** You could hear the smile in Jazz's voice.

**-Well then, bring it you Con punks!- **Both of them waited for the Con strike team to come closer, then they both transformed and picked a target to hitch a ride on as we shot past them.

"They really like riding jets. Crazy assholes." Raph shook his head.

We kept speeding on, right past the large red and blue semi and several others. Once we were a safe distance behind them, Bee, Hide and Jazz hit the brakes and spun around before coming to a stop. **-Was startin' ta wonder if ya got lost!- **Jazz said to the new arrivals.

**-Well excuse us for having trouble locating your signals! For a while they just blinked out.-** Mirage replied.

**-Mighta been the cave and canyon we was in.-**

**-And here I was thinking you glitches turned your beacons off.-**

**-Always a smartaft in tha' bunch...- Jazz muttered.**

I watched quietly from the back seat as the Autobots began to light up the sky as they engaged the Cons. Sunny and Sides were still up there playing rodeo as the jets they were riding bucked and twisted under them. Prime and the others had promptly turned the tables on the ones that didn't have any cowbot riders. It didn't take long for the Cons to decide they wanted to see what the weather was like somewhere else, cuz here it was raining asswhoopin'.

Once they had had left the area, the rescue rescuers came back over to join us. Jolt and Arcee pulled up to a stop next to Hide. "You're leaking energon." Jolt said as he popped back up to bot mode.

"I know I'm leaking energon!"

Jolt just sighed and rolled his eyes at the grouchy bot. "Ok, let me rephrase that. I noticed you were leaking energon and I need to look you over so I can see how bad it is." Arcee giggled at the condescending tone in Jolt's voice.

"No."

"No?"

"You heard me! No!"

"For the love of Primus...why not?"

"Because I said so!"

"Ironhide! Ratchet will have my aft if I don't send him a report on your condition!"

"Ratchet can go jump in a smelter! I said no!"

"Don't make me get Prime." Jolt threatened.

"I'll tell him no too!"

"Hide!"

"No!"

Since this was obviously going nowhere, Arcee stepped in. "Maybe Jolt would be more understanding if you told him _why_ you won't come out of vehicle mode."

"Because I have one of the femmes in here and she is stripped down to her protoform and I don't want all of you gawking at her!" He finally snapped.

"I am soo going to hurt you..." I mumbled to Leo, as I turned red again.

"You can beat me all you want when you are better." He replied as he held me close.

"Why do you have a stripped femme in your chassis?" Jolt asked confused.

"Because her mate was dealing with her injuries you dolt!"

"I guess that explains it." Came the murmured reply.

Arcee just laughed quietly, shaking her head over it all. "Why mechs always have to behave like sparklings I'll never understand." She said as she moved closer. She reached out a hand and tried to open the door, only to find it locked. "Open up the door!"

"No."

"Are we really going to sit through that again?" She said exasperated. "Look, it is perfectly fine for another femme to see a stripped femme on their world, you hardhelmed twerp. I will take her, and shield her from prying optics, so Jolt can take a look at you."

"No."

"Hide you will open this door or I will get Sideswipe and have him cut it off!"

"I'd like to see him try!"

She narrowed her eyes at the stubborn bot. "Fine...Chromia!"

"Alright you blasted femme! I'll open the door!" He grumbled at her. "Just keep Chromia away. I don't think she'd be happy to find out about this."

"Thought you would see it my way." She smirked at him as the door popped open. She then turned to Jolt. "You! Turn around!"

"Yes ma'am." He replied as he did as he was instructed. At least _one_ of the two listened.

"Hand her to me Leonardo." She then said to the worried turtle. "I'll keep all the perverts away."

I could tell Leo really didn't want too, but Arcee wasn't going to take no for an answer. Carefully I changed hands and Arcee moved a bit away from the others as Hide finally came out of vehicle mode. She was extremely cautious as she moved, barely irritating any of the numerous burns across my body. I just closed my eyes and let the cool night air wash over me, enjoying the slight relief it gave me.

Arcee was chuckling to herself by the time she came to a stop. "You really got to him. I don't think I've ever seen him so protective over a human, except maybe the Lennox family."

I just smiled. "He just has an overprotective streak in him. Leo is the same way."

"I didn't have any problems with him." She grinned back at me.

"Because you're bigger than he is."

"Not by much. And from what I've seen and heard, he really doesn't let size bother him when he's fighting." She looked back over her shoulder a moment. "He's one of the braver lifeforms I've met on this planet."

"Just out of curiosity, would Chromia really have minded if she caught me locked up in there?"

She laughed. "Of course not. But there is something brewing between my sister and him, something he really doesn't want to risk losing." She gave me a quick wink. "We have found a way to turn that against him a time or two if needed."

"Seems to work."

"Until he figures it out. Primus knows he's a hard one to deal with, don't know what she's going to do then."

"Hit him. It works for Ratchet." The sister in question said as she joined us.

"You two are a perfect match." Arcee rolled her eyes.

"I know." Chromia grinned, then spun quickly and shot at something I couldn't see because it was behind us. "Sideswipe! Get your aft back over there with the others!" She yelled as there was a surprised sounding squeak that came from the direction she shot at. "Idiots...they are all idiots." She said ruefully as she shook her head.

"Most men are." I agreed. "Sometimes I think they don't know how to grow up."

Chromia grinned again. "They don't, but if they did it would make life a lot less fun." Once again her blaster came up as an intruder came closer.

"Hey! Hold your fire quick draw!" I heard Donnie yell. "I'm here to check on her, and wrap her up the best I can with what I got."

Chromia looked at me first and waited for my nod of approval before she put her blaster away.

"What is it with these guys being so damn trigger happy?" Donnie mumbled as he came into my view. He quickly walked up to Arcee, who lowered me enough to let Donnie work.

"How's Marina?" I quietly asked him. I was so worn out, the constant pain and the shenanigans we had just gone through finally getting to me.

"As good as can be expected. She's sleeping right now."

"How in the world did you managed that? If she feels like I do, then sleep really isn't going to come easy."

"It will after I give you the same thing I gave her." Which he then did as he popped two pills in my hand. "Take them."

I did. Popping them in my mouth and dry swallowing them. It didn't take them long to work either and Donnie knew it. He was quiet as he wrapped me up the best he could with what he had, but there were still numerous burns he couldn't do much with they were so large. By the time he was done Jolt had finished with Hide and they were all waiting on us and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. Once he was done, Donnie motioned to Hide and he pulled forward, then stopped next to us. Once again the door popped open and Arcee carefully handed me back to Leo who was once again waiting inside.

"Make sure she sleeps." Donnie told Leo. "Hopefully on the way we can stop somewhere and send Cris and Casey in to pick up some things, but for now this is the best I can do. Let me know if anything comes up, I'll be riding with Marina in Bumblebee."

Leo just nodded as he strapped me back in place, taking care not to undo Donnie's work, and Donnie closed the door. Hide then followed the convoy as they started to move out. Leo could have climbed back up front then, but he choose not too. He stayed in the back with me, holding my hand. Between his comforting presence and the hum of Hide's motor, I quickly drifted off to sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

It was Donnie that woke me up, even though he didn't mean too. I wearily opened my eyes to him wrapping more bandages around my legs. "Hey, sorry." He said when he noticed I was awake.

"It's fine." I croaked out. Lord I sounded like shit...

I looked around and noticed we had stopped somewhere. It was still night but there was the telling color change starting to happen on the horizon, letting me know dawn wasn't far away as the sun slowly began to light up the sky along with the lights of a nearby town. I was a little confused to find myself lying on the ground on a blanket, and for the most part covered with another one. Marina laid not far from me, wrapped up herself in a pair of brand new looking blankets, still fast asleep.

The autobots were all nearby, some talking, some not, but all waiting for something it seemed, probably us, as they kinda just mingled and wandered around but still very alert to their surroundings. At the moment Jolt was checking his handy work on Hide as Prime and Jazz were deep in discussion with him. Raph was leaning against a nearby rock and Mikey and Casey were standing not far away, having a whispered conversation.

Leo took a bottle of water from a case sitting nearby and opened it. "Here." He said as he helped me drink some of of it. I didn't make too much of a mess, but I still managed to spill some.

"Where did we get the water from?" I mumbled, still half asleep and groggy.

"Made a pit stop near this podunk town we ran across." Cris said from where she was sitting on the ground nearby, watching as Donnie worked. "Jazz gave Casey and I a lift to the store here to pick up some things."

I winced a little as Donnie pulled a little too hard on the bandage. "Sorry." He mumbled again. "My mind wandered there for a bit."

"Uh oh." Cris said. "When that happens he's thinking about something."

"Usually something that is going to make us all glad he thought about it enough to get distracted." Leo agreed. "So spill, what's on your mind?"

Donnie wrapped quietly for a moment, before finishing tying off the last bandage, then covered me the rest of the way up. "I'm finding it curious that while in the rock base, she had no problem reaching out to Ironhide, right?"

"Yes, we could talk to him pretty easy, when he decided to talk."

"But yet, in the canyon base, she was blocked. Neither one of you could reach her." He turned his attention to me. "Did you try to reach out?"

"A few times." I told him. "At first Marina and I thought it was because we were so far away, but even when you were right outside I didn't feel them. Not really anyway. Just small shimmers of something around the edges before...before I couldn't think enough to try again."

"And the next time you tried we were right there in the room with you?" Leo asked and I just nodded my reply. "But yet, when her emotions hit us, the connection stayed open and Hide and I could communicate."

I looked at him wide eyed...they felt that? All of it?

''Not all of it." Leo told me aloud. "You sent just enough to worry us, but you really didn't hit me with it until I was in the base.''

"Knocked Leo to his knees you hit him so hard." Donnie added. "I find it curious that it worked in one scenario, but didn't in another."

"Ya migh' be an ta somethin' there." Jazz said as he approached with Hide. "Tha didna ev'n cross mah mind."

"Different rock types maybe?" Raph suggested.

"Possible." Donnie said doubtfully. "I just don't know right now. Hopefully once I analyze the data I managed to pick up on that computer I can find something out."

"When on earth did you have time to hack a computer?" I asked him.

"When I was shutting down the electricity to the tables down so Leo and Mikey could get the restraints off you two. Figured I might not get another chance at it if I didn't take the opportunity."

"Oh. I'm surprised you haven't started on it yet."

He calmly looked at me, then at Marina. "Had other things on my mind. But now that you two are, somewhat, stable and taken care of, I will look into it some as we go."

"Lemme kno if ya need some help." Jazz told him. "Ah'd let ya ride wit me, but Ah'm figurin' ya migh' not wan' ta leave the missus. Bit cramped in my chassis ta lay 'er out."

"Are you about done?" Hide then asked. "If so, we should keep moving. It's still a few hours drive to the secodary base."

"Main base now." Jazz snorted. "Cons managed ta level tha old base."

"With them yes, I just want to check over Mikey's arm real quick. Make sure the crazy loon didn't rip anything open with that wild stunt he pulled earlier." Donnie looked around. "Where is he anyway?"

"Over there." Raph pointed to where his little brother had moved to.

By now Mikey and Casey were approaching the twins. "That was some awesome jet ass whoopin' you guys did back there." Mikey told them as the twins watched them walk over.

"You practice ninjitsu, we practice jet judo." Sides grinned at him.

"To each his own." Mikey grinned back. "Of course if I were your size I'd be better at it."

Sunny just snorted. "Not likely, reptile."

"Looks like you got a little bit of a smudge on you there big guy." Casey pulled out a rag from his golf bag and began to wipe a spot of dirt off of Sunny's leg. I narrowed my eyes a bit as I noticed him quickly slide something inside the bot's plating.

"Get your disgusting hands off of me!" Sunny snapped as he jerked his leg away, almost hitting Mikey who fell back against Sides' leg. Again I noticed something being slipped inside the metal plating as Mikey held onto that leg to keep from falling. "I don't want your disgusting organic oils all over my plating!"

"Well excuse me for trying to help!" Casey grumbled, throwing his hands up in the air. "Try to do one nice thing for these ungrateful pissbots and that's what you get."

"Did I ask for your help?!" Sunny snorted back. "Annoying fleshlings..." He mumbled before he glared down at Mikey who was still leaning against his twin's leg. Sides' didn't look to happy about the turtle hanging on him either.

Sunny's eyes narrowed a bit, but didn't seem to notice what had happened. Sides then gave Mikey a shake to get him off of his leg. "Great...now I have even more dents and dings to get out."

"Not my fault!" Mikey whined back. "He knocked me over!"

"Mikey!" Raph roared. "Get your ass over here before you piss them off to the point we have to go looking for your bodyparts all over the place to put your dumbass back together!"

"Fine..." Mikey mumbled as he turned around. Once the bots couldn't see their faces anymore, Casey and Mikey began to grin widely and tried not to laugh.

_'You saw that, didn't you?'_ I quietly asked Leo.

_'Yup.'_

_'You going to do anything about it?'_

_'Nope.'_

_._

_._

A few hours was an understatement, try most of the day. By this point stiffness was starting to set into my muscles, adding to my already immense discomfort. Even with the meds Donnie had left with Leo to give me, sleep wasn't possible anymore and I woke up again about midafternoon.

I let out a groan of pain as I tried to shift into a more comfortable position, everything was screaming at me again and I was trying to relive some of the pain. I hadn't even opened my eyes yet when I felt a pair of gentle hands unbuckle my torso to lift me up, then prop me against his warm body before repositioning the blankets around me.

"It hurts." I mumbled out, half dazed with pain and the fact that I just woke up from a drug induced sleep.

"I know." Leo's calm voice replied.

"How much further?" Raph asked our ride.

"About another hour or so." Ironhide replied. "We would be there by now if those blasted twins would stop playing."

"Those two are like two giant Mikeys." Raph muttered, then grinned. "But they do know how to have fun in a fight."

"About the only time they _are_ useful."

"What on earth are they talking about?" I asked as I opened my eyes.

"Apparently the twins like to cause havoc when they are out for a drive." Leo replied. "Prime had to call them back repeatedly because they kept going on racing adventures."

"Not to mention causing an accident or two." Raph added. "It's been an interesting trip."

I just grunted as I rested my head against Leo's chest. "I'd give you some more pain pills, but it's still to early for you to take them." Leo said softly to me.

"We will be there soon, I'm sure Ratchet has something that will help." Hide spoke up.

"Ratchet's there? With the Caitlin and the kids?" I asked.

"Of course you silly femme! You didn't think he would just drop them off on the side of the road did you?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Not what I meant, you ninny." I sighed. "The last I remember seeing is Ratchet's tail end hauling ass, but I didn't know where too."

"They are all there, and fine." He paused a moment "And what the frag is a ninny?"

"Nevermind." Leo said quickly.

Hide remained quiet on the subject, suspiciously quiet. I had a feeling he was looking it up. They could do that if I remembered right. "I am not a foolish person!" He suddenly burst out, swerving a little as he did.

"See what you did?" Leo gently scolded me.

"Not my fault he's so sensitive." I replied. Raph was too busy trying not to laugh.

Grumbling a little, the Autobot straightened out again and we continued on our way.

The rest of the ride passed uneventfully, besides the twins getting yelled at again for the upteenth time. Hide wasn't to far off the mark when he said an hour, we pulled off of the road about fifty minutes later, following what seemed to be a dirt road that didn't see much use. Heck, you could barely even call it a road, trail came closer.

After weaving around the landscape for about two miles, the structure itself finally came into view. This one seemed at first glance to be completely abandoned, but you could tell, if you knew what you were looking for, that it was all for show. The place was definitely _not_ abandoned.

We pulled into the gate that had been opened at our approach and Hide along with Bee made a beeline (ha ha, get it? beeline...) to one of the hangers in the back, where Ratchet was already standing outside waiting. With him were Elita-1, Skids and Mudflap, Will, Epps, Sally, Tony and a few bots I didn't have the pleasure of meeting yet.

"Took you long enough!" Ratchet grumped as Hide and Bee pulled to a stop near him. Arcee and Chromia followed not far behind with Jazz. The sisters went to greet the third before they moved towards the vehicles holding Marina and I. Bee promptly opened his door for Elita and after Mikey scampered out of the way, Marina was handed out. Arcee and Chromia decided to brave Hide again.

"You going to open the door, you stubborn mech? Or am I going to have to help Ratchet dismantle it?" Chromia asked him.

For some reason Hide opened his door for her without complaint this time, with a quiet chuckle from Arcee. Once again Leo handed me off, this time to Chromia. She was just as careful as her sister as she took me into her arms and then Leo slipped out behind me, Raph had already gotten out.

Cris and Casey were just getting out of Jazz when the twins came speeding up, screeching to a halt in front of Ratchet.

"Ratchet! There is something wrong!" Sides yelled as he stopped.

"You mean besides the fact you two almost took out everyone standing here?"

"This is serious!"

"Oh Primus..." Ratchet muttered. "What?"

"There is a stink in our chassis we can't get rid of!"

"I didn't know you guys could smell things." I said to Chromia.

"Why wouldn't we be able too?" She asked me amused.

"I dunno, just figured you would have no reason too. I honestly don't know much about how you guys function."

"Well if you would stop off roading, and running over innocent earth creatures, maybe you wouldn't smell!" Hide was saying to the twins as he transformed to bot mode.

"We didn't hit anything!" Sunny snapped back.

Casey and Mikey by this point were trying to nonchalantly get the fuck out of there. Leo and I caught it though and exchanged quick knowing smiles. Hide had a slight, very slight, smile on his face too. He obviously had caught on to what we were thinking.

"Well you must have done something." Ratchet told them.

"That's just it!" Sides almost whined. "We didn't hit anything, and everything checks out fine when we do a diagnostic!"

Ratchet just rolled his eyes. "Fine, come inside and I'll look you over when I'm done with the femmes and Hide."

They both transformed into their bi-pedal modes to follow the rest of us in, but stopped when a twin pair of tinny clinking sounds from two cans, two open cans, fell from their legs and rolled across the pavement. One looked like a large can of tuna, the other a can of soft cat food and both of them looked like they had been sitting out in the open like that for awhile. They rolled for a few feet, before they came to a stop with a plop, right where everyone could see them.

"That might explain the smell." Cris said with a straight face. Then she lost it, along with the rest of us.

The twins looked at the cans, then their glares snapped over to Casey and Mikey who had by now froze in their tracks. "Uh oh." Mikey said.

"Fuck the uh oh!" Casey hooped. _"Run!" _

With a shout of "Prank war is back on!" Mikey hauled ass, with Casey right behind as the twins took up the chase. They were gaining quickly on the two smaller beings when Bee suddenly sped forward, went bot, grabbed Casey and Mikey, went back to vehicle mode and sped off. Sunny and Sides didn't hesitate one second as they both lept forward and hit the ground on wheels, taking up the chase. The rest of us were too busy laughing to do anything.

.

.

At least the bed was comfortable. Didn't mean I like being stuck in it though. "I want up!" I snapped at Leo for the hundredth time.

"No!" He snipped back at me. "You are in no condition to be going anywhere!"

"Asshole." I mumbled.

His eyes softened a little as he took in my frustrated features. "Only when it concerns your health dear one." He gently told me. "I don't like seeing you stuck here anymore than you like being stuck here, but you need to heal."

"Bite me." I mumbled.

He raised an eyeridge at me. "You really want me too?"

I just glared at him, which he promptly ignored as Will and Epps came into the room. "How is she?" Will asked.

"Grumpy." Leo shrugged. "But that's normal for her when she's on the mend. She hates being stuck in bed, and Donnie and I always have to bully her to stay there."

I knew it was childish, but I stuck my tongue out at him anyway. He just rolled his eyes as Will and Epps laughed.

We had been here a little over a day now and all I got to see of the place so far was the inside of this damn room. Hell, Leo wouldn't even leave me alone for five minutes to go pee, not to mention let me see the kids. I sighed as I settled back into the pillows, maybe Caitlin would take pity on me and bring them by again after they ate supper.

My current prison cell was in a section branching off of med-bay, apparently so Ratchet could stay near any human patients. It was convenient for him, but between him lurking around out there and Leo staying put in here, there was no way in hell I was able to slip out. Pissed me off to no end.

"So, what brings you two to my private hellhole?" I asked the two chuckle heads.

"We brought you some flowers!" Epps grinned as he pulled them from where he was hiding them behind his back.

"Keep them away from her," Leo grinned "she might try and hit me with them." He really didn't emphasise the word try, he didn't need too.

Epps just laughed as he plopped them in a vase sitting on a table.

Just then Donnie came walking in, with a black guy I didn't know. Why was he wearing sunglasses inside? "Good, you are here too. We need to talk." Donnie had that tone to his voice again, had a feeling he'd been snooping around in some computer info, and found something.

"Oh? About what?" Will asked. "Skids and Mudflap wreck the control panel up?"

"Nah, they out pesterin' Hide." The black man said in a familier voice, and I blinked a second.

"Jazz? Is that you?"

The grin he gave me confirmed that it indeed was him. "Like whatcha see?"

"You really don't expect me to answer that with Leo standing right there, do you?"

Leo just rolled his eyes as Jazz laughed. "How ya feelin' darlin'?"

"These bullies won't let me up." I pouted.

"Well, tha's cuz ya ain' ready."

"Your not helping."

"Wasn' tryin' to."

I stuck my tongue out at him too.

"Anyway," Leo interrupted. "what's up?"

"Someone snitched." Donnie said flately, more than a little pissed.

"What?"

"You heard me. Someone told the damn Cons where the base was."

"Are you fucking shitting me!?" Epps exploded.

"Wish he was." Jazz replied. "But Ah took a look a wha' he foun'. Data proves it, someone opened their yapper."

"One of ours?" Will asked in a flinty tone.

"Don' look like it." Jazz sighed. "But canna be sure."

My eyes had grown wide at that. If someone told the Cons where the main base was...were we safe here? Were the kids safe here? "Leo..." I said in fear now.

He took my hand, carefully, and glared at Donnie and Jazz. Not mad at them, but mad at the news. "Is this place secure?"

"From the looks of it, yes." Donnie quickly reassured us. "We didn't find anything suggesting they know of this place."

"Na ta mention tha if they did know, they woulda blown this place sky high too." Jazz added.

"Only very few know of this base." Will clarified for us. "To be precise, the only ones who know about it, are all here."

"One of the best kept secrets in the country." Epps said as he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.

"Then I don't think it was an inside job." Donnie mused. "If one of your folks went bad, I doubt they would have forgotten to mention this place."

"So, that leaves us with the question of, who has the loose mouth?" Will said.

"Who knew of the old base?" Leo asked.

Will sighed. "Not many, but more than know about this place. A few heads of some government agencies that need to know, so we don't cross paths with them. Then you have the president, secretary of defense...the usual chain of command hoopla."

Leo had narrowed his eyes, and I felt suspicion flowing through our bond. "Which agencies exactly?"

Will shrugged. "CIA, FBI, EPF, The top military brass-"

"EPF as in Earth Protection Force?"

"You don't think..." Donnie looked at Leo as he trailed off.

"Bishop." Leo almost spat out.

"Leo, don't you think that might be reaching a little far? I mean he is a monster, but to ally himself with the Cons?"

"Until you prove to me otherwise Donnie, my bet is on him."

"It just doesn't make sense though...What's in it for him?"

"I don't know, but I do know that the Cons have someone working with them. We found that out at the rock base. Someone who is willing to supply them with 'test subjects' for whatever it is they are doing. And we also know that Bishop has no problem with playing around with things he shouldn't, including humans. Throw that in with the knowledge the he also knew about the base doesn't really leave much room for doubt."

"Wasn' he tha one tha had Hide, Bee and Ratchet?" Jazz asked and we nodded in reply. "So, this fragger got his hands in all kinda pies."

"Still can't prove it was him." Donnie said doubtfully. "I'd hate to waste time hacking into his crap if he happens to be innocent for once."

I snorted. "Bishop innocent...that's a good one..."

"You know what I mean." Dinnie sighed.

Leo looked steadily at Donnie. "You may be right Donnie. I may be jumping to conclusions here, but can you really blame me? Keep looking for any evidence of it possibly being someone else, but I still would advise trying to keep tabs on him while you do it."

I snorted again. "That's another good one...trying to keep tabs on Bishop..."

"Will you stop that!" Leo told me irritably.

"I will, when you put him out of his misery." I snapped back.

"Bad blood between you two?" Epps asked me.

"You have no idea." I mumbled back.

"He's managed to hurt us all, in one way or another." Leo told him quietly.

It was right about then that I figured out thinking of the past things Bishop had done, to me and my family, might not be such a good idea. There was a stomping noise coming from the med-bay area that shook the ground as it got closer, before the wall leading to med-bay was completely ripped apart, along with part of the ceiling, and a very angry Ironhide was standing in it's place. "He did_ WHAT!?" _The black bot roared loud enough to hurt my ears.

"Oh boy." Will muttered as we stared, stunned, up at him. "Haven't seen him that angry in a while."

Without saying anything to anyone, and shocking me to no end, Hide brought a finger in and carefully moved the blankets out of the way, revealing my now faded scars that Bishop had given me years ago. They were wrapped up mostly in the new bandages, but they were so long that he could easily pick them out. Growling in anger he replaced the blanket and glared at Leo. "Why is this piece of slag still breathing!" He roared again.

By now his rampage had caused quite a few heads to pop in and they were all staring wide eyed at what was going on as Leo answered the enraged Autobot. "Because I haven't had the opportunity to rectify that." Leo told him, his own eyes flashing.

Chromia came into view just then. "Ironhide-"

"Silence femme!" He snapped at her before turning his attention back to us. He looked at Donnie and anger caused his eyes to turn a deep purple color. I knew he wasn't mad at Donnie, but was mad at what had happened to Donnie. When we first met them, all Hide knew was that the purple banded turtle was sick, he didn't know how bad, or who was responsible for it. He let out another angry growl as he looked back at Leo. "I assure you, the next time I meet this human, he will not live to do anything to any of you again."

"Ironhide," Prime's voice came from the hallway. "calm yourself old friend."

That was easier said than done...Hide smashed his fist into the floor, leaving a nice hole there, before he spoke on last time. "I promise you, that fragger will pay!" Then he straightened and stomped back out of my sight.


	19. Chapter 19

Needless to say, I had to change rooms. The one I had been in wasn't really in any condition to house anyone anymore. "You really need to learn to control your thoughts, dear one." Leo had told me as he carried me to my new room. "It's fine when it's just me and you, but we aren't alone up there right now."

I had just shrugged. "As much as you would like me to be, I'm not you Leo. My mind likes to do it's own thing a lot."

He had just sighed as he kept walking.

Now I was stuck in bed again, and by myself in the room for once. Leo had went to go get me something to eat, and himself something by Ratchet's threat by wrench. "You will get yourself some form of nourishment!" He had snapped at Leo. "I refuse to have another patient because you fainted from hunger!" Since he was waving his wrench around while he said it, Leo just sighed and left the room.

Of course I used his absence to try and get out of bed. I wanted up dammit. I hate bedrest, absolutely hate it. I always feel like a burden to everyone. I can take care of myself, and I had to pee...

I wrapped the blanket around me and put my feet down onto the cold floor and carefully stood up. I hissed in pain slightly as my ankle screamed back at me, but it supported my weight now at least. I didn't find myself face first on the floor anyway.

I took my first hobbling steps towards the bathroom when a strong arm caught me on the right side, supporting me. Fuuuuuck!

"You should not be up." Ironhide told me as he pretty much made me lean on his holoform.

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't be destroying the buildings." I muttered back at him. "And I really need to go to the bathroom."

He actually smiled a little at that. "You could have asked for help."

"I don't want help!" I said frustrated. "I want to do shit on my own. I'm a grown ass woman for christ's sake!"

"An injured grown ass woman." He did however help me to the bathroom.

He waited by the door, which I firmly closed in his face, as I relieved my screaming bladder. I took a moment to wash my face, both to enjoy my time up as long as possible and because I really looked like shit. I sighed at my reflection, my long hair was a mess and I had dark circles under my eyes. I wondered if Marina was feeling any better than I was. What I really wanted was a three hour hot bath, a good book and lots of bubbles. Didn't see that happening anytime soon. So I had to settle with a little water on my face for now.

When I finally hobbled back out I found a not very happy Leo waiting for me, glaring at me with his arms crossed. "I leave you alone for fifteen fucking minutes..."

Hide just chuckled a little as he helped me back to the bed. "She is a stubborn one."

Leo just shook his head as he helped me get settled back in. "Too stubborn." He then place a tray in front of me so I could eat. "You pull those wounds open and you're going to be in a world of trouble." Leo warned me.

"Why? You going to spank me?"

"Don't tempt me." He growled.

"Eat." Ironhide then bullied me.

"Good lord...It was bad enough with just Leo, now I got both of you to deal with..."

"Eat!" They both snapped together.

Giving up with a sigh, I ate. No way I could outgrump both of them.

And that ended any alone time I might have had. Those bastards took turns making sure I was bound to my bed after that. And when they were both busy, Chromia or one of her sisters sat with me. It was enough to make me scream. Babysitters every god damn where!

"You know, they only do it because they care." Chromia told me with an amused grin on her face. It was her turn this afternoon a few days later. I had been in more foul humor than usual, bitching about males, beds, idiot Cons and where to shove them all.

"I know!" I almost yelled. "That's what makes it so bad! Can't really be mad at them for caring, but I want up, dammit!"

"Well get up then." Ratchet said as his holoform entered.

"What?" I glared at him.

"Are you going deaf now too? If you want up, get up."

"They won't let me!"

Ratchet just gave me an amused chuckle. "You've healed enough to where you can get up now. Your...unique...genetics have vastly increased your healing time. I was pleased with the results I saw when I checked on you earlier and have decided you may now be a mobile patient."

"You better not be pulling my leg..." I told him.

"Why would I pull on it? It serves no function for me to do so."

I facepalmed. "Nevermind...it's just an earth saying."

"An absurd one. You may get up whenever you feel like it, but you better take it easy! Just because I let you up doesn't mean I want you out there doing some silly stunts! I'll put you right back on bed rest if that happens!" Then he turned and walked out.

"Well, that takes care of that." I grinned. "Now I have another problem."

"Which is?" Chromia asked.

"Leo so kindly neglected to leave me some clothes. Probably to try and keep me stuck in here. I'm not going to wander around wrapped up in this damn blanket."

Chromia just shook her head before she left to scrounge me up something to wear.

Needless to say I enjoyed my freedom. If I could, my ass was outside. I loved the outdoors, and being cooped up like I was for a few days, I was fighting a serious case of cabin fever. But what I missed the most was the simple act of watching my kids play as they romped around. And they were thrilled to see me up and about. I think Cris and Caitlin were relieved too, just because of the fact that they didn't have to watch all of them 24/7 now if not for seeing me on my feet. Marina was cleared not long after I was and things were starting to go back to normal...what ever qualified as normal around here anyway.

Marina and I were sitting outside, on some crappy ass benches someone had scrounged up, watching the kids play. I was almost scared to sit on the silly thing but I really didn't want to go back inside to find something else.

"So you're the one that sent Hide into a hissy fit." A red bot said as he approached. He looked familiar, but I couldn't quite put a name to him.

"Sometimes I think he doesn't need my help to have one of those." I smiled, my mood now vastly improved now that I was out and about.

He laughed. "That's sounds about right. Name's Blaster. Haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet. Though your lil ones are very amusing."

"Vicky, and this is Marina." I introduced us. "So you've already met the kiddos huh..."

He winked at me. "Someone had to keep them occupied, and out of Ratchet's way. Poor Caitlin was a little overrun there for awhile."

"I can imagine." Marina said. "They are all a handful, and I'm sure with us gone missing it didn't help matters."

"They weren't that bad. I didn't have a problem with them anyway, just put some tunes on and let them dance themselves out."

"Whatever works." I grinned. "So why haven't we seen you around before?" I asked him curiously. "I thought I had met all the bots that were on earth."

"Oh Primus no." He laughed. "Some of us had to stay here to make sure this place was operational and keep the maintenance up on it."

"That might explain it."

"Baster!" Ty squealed when he caught sight of my new acquaintance. "Baster, come play us some music!" Of course he had to oblige my lil ninja and went over to get the party started.

"Baster?" Marina chuckled. "Now there is a name I'm not sure I'd like to have."

"He forgets letters sometimes when he's excited." I smiled.

"Better hope he doesn't add a 'D' on the end to make up for it."

I cracked up.

Didn't see much of Donnie and Jazz the next few days, since they pretty much locked themselves in the control room. There were a lot of pieces to this puzzle we were trying to put together, the problem was we didn't even know what most of the pieces looked like. It was frustrating Leo to no end, Prime took it all in stride though.

"Patience Leonardo." The Calm bot was saying to my lover one afternoon as they, along with Hide and Blaster, watched the two hackers work. "This is not the first time we have had to wait them out."

"Usually that's his strength." I said as I carefully walked up to them. Ankle still had a tendency to give out on me at odd moments, but both Ratchet and Donnie assured me that would pass. "Not sure why he doesn't have any now."

"Because before I didn't know they had a supersized version of Bishop running around, and now it looks like the human version might be joining in on the sick fun too." He grumbled. "Doesn't really sit well with me."

Didn't sit well with me either. Putting Shockwave and Bishop on the same team was not my idea of a fun party, they were each bad enough by themselves. I couldn't help a shudder at the thought. Hide growled his agreement, but kept his cool this time. He tried really hard too anyway. _'What did I tell you about watching what you think?'_ Leo grumbled at me.

_'So what do you want me to do? Turn my damn brain off?'_ I finally lost it with him. _'I'm not you Leo! I haven't spent all these years perfecting everything. I'm a simple human who just happened to bump into you. I can't help that I think, and I worry and I relive all of this shit! And yes the thought of those two together scares the goddamn piss out of me! I've seen what they can do on their own, I don't want to know what they come up with together!'_

_'Vicky-'_ He tried, before I cut him off.

_'Just leave me alone!'_ I then turned and started to storm out of the command room, to everyone's confusion but Leo and Hide. _'I wouldn't want to send Hide into another rampage with my self misery!'_

I found myself back outside, sitting on that damn rickety bench again, absently spinning the ring Leo had placed back on my finger once my hands had healed enough. Maybe I should give Ratchet back the transmitter after all. I wasn't sure if I could keep certain thoughts from cropping into my head.

It was funny, in a not amusing way, I really wasn't scared of much if you think about it. Hell I once jumped into a fight with Hun without batting an eyelash over it. I've took out countless street punks, beat up on stupid thugs, smacked Stockman around a few times and recently was more than willing to go toe to toe with Ravage among other things. But there were two beings I was literally scared to death of. Bishop and Dark Leo. And now I could add Shockwave to the list. I was scared of them, because they had actually managed to hurt me. They all had gotten past all of my defenses, one way or another, and dished out some serious pain. And that's what scared me. Try as I did, and have done, I could not shake that fear. Letting Hide feel it might not be a wise thing. Couldn't expect him to deal with my emotions when I couldn't even do it.

"Why so gloomy?" Cris asked as she plopped onto the bench next to me, making the whole thing creak alarmingly.

"Nothing."

"Bullshit...Something is bugging you."

"It's nothing, really."

"Uh huh." She rolled her eyes. "You are sitting out here, by yourself, moping around because of nothing."

"I lost my temper with Leo!" I finally lost my temper with her. "There, happy now?"

She just shrugged. "So? I lose my temper with Raph all the time."

"That's because you two are walking firecrackers with lit fuses." I mumbled to her.

"I know. A match made in heaven."

"What are the kids up too?" I changed the subject. Mikey had come by earlier and snitched them all and ran off with them.

Cris laughed a little. "Mikey and Bee are out taking them for a drive."

"All of them?"

"Except for Ari, she's still a little young to appreciate a good car ride I'm thinking." Cris smiled. "The rest of them seemed to be having fun when Bee took off earlier."

"How in the world did they manage to fit six kids and one large turtle in there?"

"Very carefully I imagine."

Then, as if our thoughts summoned them, Bee came speeding by and the howls and laughter of happy kids came rolling out of his open windows as Bee honked his horn on the way by. He spun a couple of donuts before he straightened out and sped off again. Then as quick as he was there, he was gone. The only evidence of his passing the dust trail and the sounds of laughter he left behind.

.

.

"Looks good." Donnie told me as he looked Marina over later that evening. I was getting the same treatment from Ratchet. "I don't even think you two will even scar too much you are healing so good."

"Good." I mumbled. "I have enough souvenirs from crazy asswipes." My mood still didn't brighten much the last few hours. Cris was pretty much the only one that actually wanted to hang out with me right now.

"You are in the wrong business then." Marina told me.

"Don't remind me." I grumbled at her.

"Ok, I've had about enough of this." Leo said as he came into the room. "You, with me, now." He sternly told me.

"Oooh...someone is in trouble..." Cris grinned from where she was sitting in a chair nearby.

I just rolled my eyes at her. I guess I wasn't moving fast enough for Leo because he grabbed my hand and pulled me from the room. He didn't say anything as he stomped along the hallway until we stopped at the room we had been given. He practically yanked me inside and closed the door behind us. "Are you about done?" He snapped at me.

"With what?"

"Your damn self pity!" He took a breath to calm himself. "Dammit woman, I love you more than life itself. I don't know how many times I have proven that to you. I have tried to help you with this because I love you so damn much, but you just keep holding on too those damn fears. You have got to stop doing this to yourself!"

"So, what? You expect me to just forget that Bishop sliced me open like a side of beef? Or that your counterpart pushed me to the point that I had to jump out of a damn tree, after he tried to rape me? Am I just to forget that Shockwave was trying to fry me like a damn hamburger on a grill? Where the fuck were you when all of that happened!? Where were you when I was scared shitless? I have every right to be afraid of them!" I regretted that as soon as I said it. My own anger at myself had pushed me to that point...had I just lashed out at the one being who very much had tried to keep all of those things from happening. His face looked stunned a moment, then regret, guilt and sadness all crossed his features. I knew I stung him deeply with those words and I so much wanted to take them back.

He pushed past me on his way to the door before I grabbed his arm. "Leo...I'm sorry...I didn't mean that...I'm sorry...please..."

He did stop, but kept himself turned away from me. "Vicky, there is no words to describe how much I hate myself for letting any of that happen to you. Maybe allowing you into my life wasn't the best thing for me to do."

"Leo-" His raised hand effectively cut me off.

"I love you, will always love you, but I'm starting to wonder if that love will cost you more than I can justify. You have trained hard, and you can handle yourself in a fight and I fully trust you with the children. First chance I get, I'm going to talk to Lennox and see about sending you, Caitlin and the children back home. After everything is figured out, we will part ways. I can't, I won't, keep doing this to you. I have no right to be by your side if it keeps putting you into danger."

"Leo-" I tried again.

"This conversation is over." He said, then walked out the door. The sound it made as it closed was silent compared to the sound of my heart breaking.


	20. Chapter 20

I had no idea how late it was, or even where I was for that matter.

After Leo had left, I stood there in shock a few moments, then I tried to follow him. I just couldn't believe what I had just heard...didn't want to believe it.

Of course trying to find a ninja who didn't want to be found was not going to happen. Even for me. I must have looked all over the base for him, pretty much ignoring everyone I came across, with no luck. I silently reached out to him, only to find that he had shut me out. I can't tell you how long I tried before I had to give up. He didn't _want_ me to find him, and I wasn't going too.

I returned to that wobbly ass bench that was quickly becoming my favorite spot and dropped my head into my hands, trying not to cry. He couldn't have meant it, please god he couldn't have...again I tried to reach out to him, again to only run into a mental wall.

The soft blue glow of my ring caught my attention, still glowing because of the transmitter Ratchet had attached to it. That ring stood for so much, a promise of something I thought would last forever, now I was in danger of losing it all because of my damn mouth. I had lashed out and said something I really didn't mean, blamed him for something that really wasn't his fault, and now I was paying for it. With that one paragraph, I lost everything.

I wondered how long had he been struggling with this himself, how he long he had kept those feelings hidden from me, how long it was bothering him that he couldn't protect me all of the time. Was it the most recent screw up? Or had he been dealing with this for awhile? I just didn't know, never knew, until I pretty much slapped him in the face with it. God...what did I do? I didn't deserve this ring that once again caught my attention with it's soft glow. In a fit of anger I yanked it off, then threw it. I didn't deserve it, and I didn't deserve him...not after pretty much blaming him for shit he really had no control over. I was the one who always insisted to go along, to help. I was the one who got myself into these predicaments because of my stubbornness. I could have chosen to just stay back, out of the limelight. Then Bishop would have never have known about me, and none of this shit would have ever have happened. It was all me, and I blamed him for it because he didn't come riding in on the white steed in time to save me.

I got up and began walking. Didn't really pay attention to where I was going, just needed something. Something I knew I wasn't going to find out there, but at least walking gave me something to do. It was a chilly night, but I didn't let that bother me as I meandered along across the landscape. After one shiver from it, I pretty much ignored it.

I kept trying to reach out to him as I walked, trying to break that barrier he had put up. And kept failing. His mind was closed to me and I felt so empty without him. This wasn't what I wanted. This was never what I wanted. Damn me and my mouth! "Leo please..." I whispered out into the night after wandering who knows how long out there.

Usually I took comfort at being outside, but not tonight. I didn't see anything in the moonless night as I stumbled along, my tears blinding me even more. I had no idea where I was, how far I had wandered. Between my continued attempts to try and reach him and the tears blurring my vision, I didn't see the ravine until I had literally stumbled into it.

I slid and bounced down the side, trying to grab onto anything to slow my fall before I slammed into the bottom of it. The impact knocked the wind out of me and I laid there gasping for air. It was at that point I gave up as the first tears began to roll down my face, followed by more. I didn't even try to get up, just laid my head down on my arms and bawled my eyes out like a damn baby. Leo, I just wanted Leo...

I don't know how long I laid down there, oblivious to everything, when I heard the sounds of engines roaring across the landscape. I figured they might be out looking for me, but I couldn't get myself together enough to go find out. I was still crying uncontrollably when the sound of tires skidding to a sudden stop was heard above me, then silence.

Silence didn't mean they hadn't found me I figured out a moment later when I felt a pair of strong arms lift me up off of the ground. "Bee!" Mikey called back up. "I found her!"

The camaro gave an acknowledging beep as Mikey pulled me into a sitting position against him. I just held onto him as I kept crying. "Shit..." He mumbled, for once it seemed he had no idea what to say. He just held me close as I cried.

There was another sound of tires skidding to a stop, more than one set this time. "Vicky!" I heard Cris call out.

"She's down here!" Mikey answered for me.

There was the sound of rocks and dirt being slid around as she made her way down. "Is she alright?" Cris asked, closer this time.

"As far as I can tell she didn't hurt anything." Mikey replied. "I can't get her to quit crying though..."

"Can you get her out of here?" Cris quietly asked Mikey.

"Yeah, shouldn't be a problem." And he scooped me up, then carefully made his way back up to the top.

"Did she hurt herself?" I heard Hide ask.

"Doesn't look like it." Cris answered.

"She seems ta be a bit shook up tho'." Jazz noted.

"Can't really blame her." Donnie mumbled.

"I don't know why you even bothered to come out here!" Raph then flared suddenly.

"Because I do care." Leo replied. Leo...I brought my tear stained face up.

"Well you have a funny ass way of showing it!"

"Damn it Raph!" Leo flared right back at him. "I'm trying to do what's best! For her..."

"Oh yeah." Raph said, heavily on the sarcasm. "This," He waved his hand at my general condition "is really fucking good for her."

"I don't want to see her hurt anymore because of me." Leo said, his voice had a defeated tone to it as he watched me. I reached out a hand to him, I just wanted to hold him... His gaze hardened again before he turned back to Raph, just in time to get a fist in the face that hit him hard enough to send him flying back.

"And what in the hell do you think you just did you asswipe!" Raph thundered at him.

"Raph!" Cris stepped in between him and his current target.

"Stay out of this!" He roared at her next, pushing her gently out of the way as he stalked in on Leo again. "Did it ever occur to you that you pulling this shit hurt her more than everything that's ever been done to her combined?" He managed to nail Leo again as he got back up, even though the elder did try to block it. "That you might have done the most damage by pulling away from her?" Raph punched him again once again sending Leo flying. "And what about the twins you idiot! You think you can just walk away from that! That I would _let_ you walk away from that!" Raph went in for another hit before he was stopped by Ironhide's holoform grabbing his arm.

"That's enough!" The black bot roared.

Leo was getting back to his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth. "Raph, I can't do this to her anymore." He said softly. "She's still suffering from what has been done to her, and it's because I let her in. I just can't...can't let that burden grow any larger than it already is for her."

Raph just snorted as he fought with Hide's grip on his arm. Apparently those holoforms were stronger than they looked, because Hide had no trouble holding him back. "So, you instead give her a larger one. Leo, she needs you just as much as you need her. That's something you can't just turn off, or hide from, and you fucking know it."

Leo just remained silent as he and Raph exchanged glares.

"Now that we got that settled, how about we get her back and warmed up. Before I end up having to put someone back together." Donnie said, his cold gaze directed at Leo. "And right now you seem to be the object of choice."

"Donnie..."

"I don't want to hear it Leo. As a matter of fact, I'm tempted to take a swing at you myself. Mikey, get her loaded up and lets get her back to base."

Mikey just nodded, and walked over towards Bee, shouldering Leo out of the way as he did, and slid inside with me. He wasn't going to let go of me it seemed, and held me close to him as I still quietly sobbed. Bee closed the door and shortly after that we were on the move.

.

.

I didn't talk to anyone, didn't want too. All I did was just lay in the bed with the covers wrapped tight around me like a cocoon. Trying to use them as a substitute for the arms I so dearly missed.

Cris sat with me, but she didn't even try to lure me out of my silence as I laid there, facing the wall.

The knock at the door sounded very loud in the quiet room, and so did the sound of Cris getting out of the chair to go open it.

"Can we come in?" I heard Epps ask.

"Yeah, but I hope you don't expect her to talk to you."

"She doesn't have to talk, just listen." Will said then.

"Suit yourself."

They came in, but I didn't turn to acknowledge it.

"Vicky? We need to talk to you." Will then said directly to me.

"Why? You going to tell me that my ride back home is here?"

"Holy shit...she actually said something..." Cris mumbled.

"No. That's not why we are here. As a matter of fact, we told Leo no when he came to me with it."

That did make me turn around to look at him. Not many had the guts to tell him no. I also noticed Sally was in the room with them.

"The fact is, we need you."

"For what..."

"Donnie and Jazz picked up something. Numerous transmissions going to and from the Con base."

"And this concerns me why? If you haven't noticed, I just got booted from the team."

"It concerns you because we need a team to go in." Sally spoke up. "We found the location of where the transmissions are coming from, and it's been decided to send a human team in."

"So? Go send them in. It's not my decision to make."

"Actually, now it is." Will told me.

"I don't see how."

He just looked at me calmly a moment. "No, with everything that had just happened, I don't think you do see." He turned to Cris. "You feel like leading the team?"

"Hell fucking no."

"Have Marina do it then." I said as I turned back over.

"Already asked her, she pretty much told me the same thing." Will said wryly.

"Point is," Epps cut in "they want you."

"But I'm not wanted."

"Damn it." Epps growled at me. "We have a chance here, a chance to find out what exactly is going the fuck on. This is our call, not Leo's. We can't send the turtles in because we would be breaking our part of the agreement if they get spotted. We need the human aspect of your family, and they aren't going in without you!"

"I find it hard to believe that reasoning. They taught me everything I know. Infiltration is easy for them and I seriously doubt they would be spotted." I sighed. "If anything, they would be better at it."

"This time it's a bit different." Sally said.

"Why?"

"Because we have to go through the front door. They can't do that."

I turned back over and just stared at her. "What?"

"Donnie assures me that the security is too tight, even for him. The only way we even have a chance to get in is through the front door."

"You're kidding me right?"

"I wish I was."

"So you just want us to go up there, and walk right in?"

"Basically...yes."

Cris snorted. "Don't see nothing wrong with _that_ idea."

"I wouldn't even know what to look for." I ignored Cris.

"That issue has already been discussed, I'm going with you." Sally told me. "Caitlin is going too."

"Say what?!" I was stunned. "She never goes out!"

"She is this time. Seems her area of expertise is needed."

"She works in genetics!" I bust out

"Exactly."

"Oh lord...This is going to be a fun one..." Cris mumbled as I just stared at them all.

"What exactly is going on?"

"That's what we need to find out." Will said. "All we know is what was on the Con database, and those hints aren't too promising."

"And the guys can't do this?" I asked again and they all shook their heads.

"I'll...think about it." I said as I turned back over. "I'm not sure if I can, or even want to do this anymore."

"I think that's as good as you're going to get." Cris told them softly.

"Better than nothing I suppose." Will sighed.

"Come on, show me what you got, just incase we do go out. Then I need to prep our gear. Just give her some time to think this through."

The room was quiet again after they left as I struggled my way through this. Hadn't my actions already caused enough grief? I sighed, there I go with the self pity again. Why did I always do this to myself? Because I'm me...that's why. Wouldn't feel right if I didn't mope about something. I pushed against that mental wall again, only to find it still in place and I sighed again as tears sprang to my eyes. I was so torn between just giving up and going home, and staying here to help. It seemed my help was wanted, but not from the one who I was hoping would want it. I just wasn't sure if that was enough.

"I know you are going to do this." Leo said quietly from behind me. "As much as I wish you wouldn't, I know you are. I had hoped to send you home, to spare you further suffering. But I can't. I was quickly overruled on that fact." There was a soft clicking sound as he laid something on the nightstand. "You're going to need this. Turns out, if you are too far away from it, it won't work as Hide found out earlier."

"And what about us?" I managed to ask him and silence was my only answer. I rolled over to look at him, to find him staring right back at me as I sat up.

His eyes filled with so many things as he took in tear stained face. "I...I don't know." He finally said. "I just don't know."

"Leo, I didn't mean what I said. I was scared and mad, but at myself, not at you."

"Still doesn't change the fact the words were true." His hand reached out before he caught himself and pulled it back to his side, clenching his fist. "There was nothing I could do. And none of it should have happened in the first place." He turned and walked towards the door.

"Leo, please, I need you..." I choked out, not wanting him to leave.

He paused with his hand on the doorknob. "No, you don't. Not when you keep getting hurt by choices I make."

"Choices I fully accepted!" I yelled at him in frustration.

"Choices that were wrong!" He snapped back. "I should have never allowed any of it!"

"Then why did you?"

"For the same reason I have to leave you, dear one. I love you. I love you so much that I risked taking you out just so I could have you near. It was selfish of me, and it was wrong. If I have to distance myself from you to keep you safe, then so be it."

"So after five years and two children you decide to call it quits? Just because I lost my temper for one minute? What about what I want?"

"You losing that temper finally made me realise what a damn fool I've been!" He slammed his hand against the wall, then took a moment to calm himself. "Vicky, I'm not even sure you know what you want."

"I want you! That's all I ever wanted was you..."

His eyes wandered back to my face. "I know. But that is something I cannot give you in good conscious anymore."

"You are so worried about what you feel is right, but yet don't consider what I feel."

"I'm sorry, it was never my intent to hurt you, in any way. I will allow this trip, only because the others feel like they need you and I can't stop you from going. And I will watch over you like I usually do, that promise I will keep. What happens after that...I just don't know." And with that he was gone.

Trying to fight back tears, I looked at the nightstand at the object he placed there and the soft glow of my ring shone in the dark room.


	21. Chapter 21

I walked into the control room about half an hour later, fully dressed and geared up...and the ring back on my finger. Everyone looked from where Jazz had their attention as he was laying out the layout of the building, to me. Shock registered on every single face, except one. Leo stood leaning against the far wall as I came in, and I caught the small knowing smile on his face before it quickly disappeared back behind his expressionless mask. The bond however, remained firmly blocked, he still didn't want me in there. You have no idea how much that stung.

I looked at the shocked faces around me and took a deep breath. "I'll do it."

"Thank fucking god." Cris mumbled. "Casey was about to insist on leading us in. If that happened I was going to go AWOL."

"I didn't see you volunteering." Casey snapped at her.

"Because I'm not suited for it." She glared back at him. "She got most of her training directly from Leo, you can't argue the fact she's the best one qualified, and the only one out of all of us. Even if her teacher is a big stupid ass at the moment."

"That's enough you." Raph told her.

"Bite me!" She snapped back at him. "He's lucky you got to him first! I wouldn't have stopped, Hide or no Hide!"

Marina looked from me, to Leo and back to me again, a little doubt on her face. "You sure you're up to it?"

"No." I told her honestly. "But I'm not going to just sit here and let you all go out alone either. Besides, it will keep my mind off of other things." I looked at Leo as I said that last part. He just returned it calmly, still wearing that mask. I finally just sighed and looked away before I started to tear up again. "I want to help, if you still want me too."

Raph walked over to me then, stopping right in front of me and gently lifted my chin up until I had no choice but to look him in the eyes. "Of course we do. I just want to know from you honestly, do you want to help? Or do you feel forced to help to prove a point?" He didn't need to explain exactly what point he was talking about, we all knew.

"I want too." I told him without hesitation. "I've always wanted too. I just never seem to make the best decisions when I do."

"You're not the only one." This time he did glare at Leo a moment before turning back to me. "Then, little sister, your help is more than welcome." He pulled me into a hug. "And don't let that idiot ever tell you otherwise." I just held on to him a moment, to get myself under control more than anything.

"What about the kids?" I quietly asked him.

"Blaster, Tony and Ratchet already agreed to watch them, so don't worry your pretty little head over it."

I just nodded and he let me go, but still kept an arm wrapped around my shoulders.

"And what about you, stupid?" Raph then shot at Leo. "This going to be a problem? Or is that self righteous stick in your ass out of the way enough to let this work?"

"All of you know where I stand on the subject." He replied calmly.

"That's not what I asked you, numbnuts! She wants to go, we all want her to go and you're the only one throwing it out there that you _don't_ want her to go! Are you going to be able to function with her out there?"

"Do I even have a say in the matter?"

"You had your say, and look where it got us." Raph growled. "So, right now, no you don't."

"Then I guess I have no choice but to function."

"Good. Because I really don't feel like slapping you silly right now."

"Don't you just love these intense family discussions?" Will asked no one in particular. "Anyway, if things are all settled here, I suggest we move. One of you can fill Vicky in as we go."

"I'll do that." Sally said.

"Good." Will said, then looked at the two feuding brothers. "Then lets get going before someone has to get mended up before we even leave."

"Well said." Epps muttered.

.

.

**-Focus.-** Hide told me as we drove. **-You're not leading a Seeker armada so get your head out of the clouds.-**

_'Sorry.'_

**-Don't be sorry, just pay attention.-**

I sighed and pulled myself back to the discussion at hand. Leo wasn't riding with me this time, but Cris, Casey and Raph were. Hide did open the line so we all could take part in the discussion though. A discussion I was having a really hard time focusing on, as Hide noticed. Every time Leo's voice came over it sent a little jab in my heart. He could have easily ridden with me, he choose not too.

"So let me get this straight." Casey was saying. "The plan here is to get into this building. But we can't with our usual methods?"

**-Right.-** Donnie's voice came over from where he was riding with Marina in Jazz. **-This is a very secure facility, and any tampering with any security systems will be detected.-**

**-Which will set off alarms before we even get in there.- **Leo added from Bee. I just looked out the window to hide my pain from the others in the cabin at the sound of his voice, but I couldn't hide it from the vehicle whom the cabin belonged too. I felt his seat mold around me abit, trying to comfort me a little.

"So we seriously have to literally go in the front damn door?" Cris asked.

"I don't think we are going to get far with that tactic either." I said, trying to focus on the task at hand. "If this place is as hush hush as it seems to be, they are going to know everyone who walks in that door. The RITC toaster trick isn't going to work here."

Cris actually managed a laugh at that one, no one else seemed to catch it though. There was a confused silence for a moment, before Cris took pity on them to explain it. "Cartoon episode. Casey goes barging into TCRI with a damn toaster to distract the guards for April so she can find the security room. Your battle cry of 'Give me toaster or give me death!' is one of the more iconic lines from the 2003 series."

"Did I at least mess the place up?" Casey asked amused.

"Yeah, that you did manage to do."

"How nice..."

"Back to my point." I interrupted. "I don't think we can just walk in."

**-This is your gig sweetcheeks.-** Sides said. Surprisingly he let Caitlin and Sally ride with him. He had offered Cris to ride with him too, but she had declined. Which shocked me more than a little. I was both grateful and a little upset about the fact that she missed out on a ride with one of her two favorites, just so she could be there for me. She didn't say it, but I knew that's why she did it. **-Well do it your way.-**

**-Sweetcheeks?-** Sunny asked him.

**-Just trying to make her feel better. I don't like it when she's gloomy like you, Sunny.-**

**-Don't call me that!-**

I just rolled my eyes.

"So how do we get you in?" Raph asked me.

I thought about it for awhile, then borrowed another idea from another series. "Donnie?"

**-Yes?-**

"Can you do me a favor? Can you look up any large shipments to the complex?"

**-I'm sure I can, but why?-**

"Because if you can find one with a large enough crate, I think I might know how to get us in."

**-And if I don't find one?-**

"Then use your awesome computer skills...and make up one."

**-Okaaaay...let me see what I can do.-**

.

.

"Casey! Get your damn hockey stick out of my face!" Marina hissed at him.

"And your big ass clown shoe off of my foot!" Cris added.

"I'm not sure if I should be offended or not on where his elbow is." Caitlin muttered.

"Don't blame me!" He snapped quietly. "This wasn't my crazy ass idea!"

"Is it always like this?" Sally asked, with a slight touch of amusement.

"Unfortunately." I sighed.

Donnie had to indeed use his computer skills to "make up" a shipping order. Then the guys had to swipe a delivery truck while the bots rounded us up a crate. And guess who was inside of the crate? Yup...us. Sideswipe thought it was hilariously funny as we all squeezed into the really too small thing. But it was the best they could come up with, or so Sides claimed. I was still of two thoughts on the matter.

Donnie then rigged us a simple latch to keep the lid on, that we could easily undo when we needed to come out, and Hide slipped us onto the back of the truck, which Jazz's holoform then drove to the building in question. Turns out we timed it perfectly as we rolled into the storage area right around the time most of the folks were shutting it down for the evening. They didn't even bother to open the silly thing.

So now here we were, inside of this crate, waiting for the last worker to leave so we could come out. And seriously getting fed up with Casey. And we were just getting started...

I knew the layout of the area well enough to know there was a parking garage next door, and that's where the rest of them were waiting for us. Still, we had to be very cautious here. This building was centered in the business district of a decent sized town, if we got caught the ensuing bot and turtle rampage would seriously draw some unwanted attention. I couldn't fuck this up. Very high stakes here, and we didn't even know for sure _who_ this dump belonged too.

Casey peeked out of the crate to check on the last worker in the room. "Shit dude, go home already! Go get a hooker, a beer, _some_thing!"

"Still there?" Sally asked

"Still there." He grumbled in reply. "Wait...there he goes now." I could see the lights flick off from the small crack in the crate.

"Give it a few minutes." I said quietly. "Just in case he comes back."

"Why would he come back? I'm tellin' ya he's gone for the-" The lights came back on. "I'll be a son of a bitch..." Casey mumbled. "How did you know?"

I just shrugged. I just did.

We waited for a few minutes as the worker got what he came back for, then puttered around a little bit, then he finally left again.

"Your spider sense tingling this time?" Casey asked me.

"Nope."

"Good, lets get out of this thing and get started."

Carefully we slipped out of the silly thing and disappeared into the shadows in the back of the room.

.

.

Leo stood on the roof of the parking garage next door as the sun finally sought it's well deserved rest for the night. His blue eyes focused on the building she had slipped into not too long ago. The delivery had went off without a hitch, mainly due to Donnie's computer skills and Jazz's smooth talking. But that fact did nothing to subdue the unease he felt. Not the unease of danger, not that he was ignoring the possibility something could happen, but from not being able to sense her. Granted it was by his own choice, but it didn't feel...right. It should, he felt he was doing the right thing, but it didn't. He was so tempted to lower his defenses, just so he could feel her again...so damn tempted...

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes to gather his thoughts and get his feelings under control. Now wasn't the time to deal with this, he had to keep his mind on the matter at hand. They were in there, alone, and they might need some help getting out. He couldn't be of much help if his mind kept wandering to her. How bad he had hurt her, how her desperate attempts to reach him pained him as he turned them away.

His gaze swept the building over and over, looking for anything that might pose them any kind of threat, even as his mind tried to rationalize the choice he had made. He loved her, that he did not deny. But did that love give him the right to keep pulling her into danger? Did that love make it ok to expose her to the likes of Bishop? Was it fine that she had been swept away from him by his enemies and hurt, because he was to weak to live without her? Simply put, was it fair for him to draw her into his life, and it's dangers, just because of an emotion? He had refused to see it, stubbornly tried to justify her staying with excuses. She would get better, he could train her and she wouldn't be such an easy target, she could learn from the past, it would never happen again. And then it did.

Was it so wrong of him to want to stop the cycle? To stop the pain she was facing? The fear? Even the name of those tormentors sent shivers down her spine, and that bothered him to no end. He didn't fear Bishop personally, more what he could do. She was scared to death of the man. She was scared to death of his counterpart. And now Shockwave had been added to her list of fears she just couldn't overcome. All because he was to weak to turn her away. He should have never of kissed her that night five years ago, should have never taken it even farther. But she had felt so sweet on his lips, so warm in his arms and so perfect in his heart. Even now he ached for her touch, to reassure her that it would be alright. Even if he knew it wasn't, nothing about what had happened to her was alright...nothing...

"They made it in." Raph told Leo as he walked up, startling the blue banded turtle a little. He had been so focused on his thoughts that he didn't even notice his brother approaching.

"Any problems?" He asked, trying once again to bring his mind to where it should be.

Raph just gave him a level look, slightly tinted with anger. "Why don't you ask her and find out?"

Leo sighed in exasperation. "Raph, you know why-"

"Leo stop it!" Raph snapped. "Don't give me your lame ass excuses. I'm not in the mood to hear them, and I'm still not over the fact that I want to beat the living tar out of you."

"They are not 'lame ass excuses'!" Leo flared back at him. "I have every right to do what I did!"

"So you say. But let me ask you this. Do you also have the right to dictate how she lives her life?"

"Of course not..."

"Then please tell me, fearless, what in the hell do you plan on doing when she just flat out refuses to sit in that damn protective bubble you want to put her in so badly? You saw what happened here. You told her you didn't want her to go out, and she went anyway. And you didn't even try to stop her."

"I'll have Donnie dismantle the portal if I have too."

"Leo, you and I both know you won't do that. That would mean the twins would have to be kept with us, and you wouldn't separate them from their mother. You love her and them too much to do that to them."

"I...I don't know Raph." Leo sighed. "For once in my life, I don't know what to do."

"Leo, if you were expecting her to just quietly let you walk away from her, you're wrong. She been through so much, before we even stumbled into her living room. And she has took everything that has happened after that in stride, for the most part. Yes she's scared and I can fully understand you wanting to keep that burden from growing. But she also loves you, and it's that love that keeps her going. Don't take away the one thing she depends on the most."

"Even if that one thing causes her more harm?"

"Leo, we all have our demons. Hell Cris still flinches when I twirl my sai the wrong way. Mikey's arm got so messed up he's going to have a nasty scar there for the rest of his life. First time we met Hun, he beat you to within an inch of your life. Donnie wouldn't go anywhere near anything revolving around Marina and Caitlin's injection samples for months, because he was so scared of accidentally reinfecting himself and Marina herself was in the cave with Vicky, in just as bad shape. Yet, I don't see any of you sitting on the sidelines. She's not the only one to have a near brush with death, we all have been there. And we all carry it around with us in some way. I'm not saying throw her under the bus, but maybe you should seriously rethink your reasoning. Because when you put it into your perspective that you are using with her, none of us should be out here doing this, and yet we all are." He put a hand on Leo's shoulder. "Think about it." He said before he turned to walk back towards the others.


	22. Chapter 22

"Stop." I whispered to my team before they all bumbled out into the hallway.

"What?" Cris asked.

I carefully poked my head around the corner, and found the camera on the ceiling right off the bat. "Camera." I mumbled as I looked some more. "Jesus...the place is wired up worse than fort knox." I added as I spotted a few more.

"Not going to be able to go that way." Casey stated the obvious.

"Doesn't look like it." I agreed.

"I wish the others were here." Cris muttered, then winced as I shot her a pain filed glance. "Sorry...not how I meant it..."

"It's...ok..." I tried to brush it off, not before sending out another probing touch. It was becoming a habit now. One I couldn't stop. It hurt every time I ran into that wall, but like some kind of sick freak who enjoyed pain, I kept doing it. I quickly pulled my mind back and focused again on the task before me. Vent shaft wasn't possible this time, there wasn't one that ran in the direction we needed to go. And we had already checked the false ceiling and there was no support up their either. We had to go through the halls.

Our target was, according to the blueprints Sally brought with her, what looked like a large, hidden floor in between the fifth and seventh floors. The drawings did acknowledged a sixth floor, but not what was there. Didn't even show a damn bathroom. We all figured out real quick that might be the best place to find something, if we could get to the stairwell at the other end of this hallway.

_'Hide?'_

**-Yes?-**

_'I'm pretty sure I know what the answer is here, but ask Donnie how hard would it be to shut the power down to the building.'_

I waited a moment and the reply came quickly. **-He would have to blackout the whole area to avoid arousing suspicion.-**

_'I figured as much.'_ I sighed._ 'That's not going to work then. I don't need electrical crews running around trying to find out what happened. It would just complicate matters. I'm not going to put those lineman in harms way if shit goes wrong.'_

**-He did say that the building itself has a history of glitching. Something to do with the wiring being outdated and scheduled for replacement in the near future. And with all the extra security devices recently installed, the system overloads quite often.-**

_That_ bit of info gave me an idea. _'Thanks Hide.'_ I broke off contact with him, and began looking around. I found it a moment later. A small, simple two outlet plug in the wall. The only one in this uncameraed section of the hallway too. "Cris, give me a kunai." I said as I walked over to it.

"Why?" She curiously asked as she flipped me one, which I managed to catch without slicing a finger open.

"Because I need a screw driver, and I don't have one."

"You dull the blade, you are going to sharpen it."

I just rolled my eyes as I took the cover off. That was as far as I was willing to go with it however. I had enough shocks when I was the guest of honor at Shockwave's place, really wasn't keen on getting another one. There was enough room in there for what I was planning on doing the way it looked, so hopefully I wouldn't need to take it further apart.

"Marina, one of your knives please." She handed me one, and I managed to shock myself with it as I accidently hit the damn button on it. With a startled yip I dropped it. Damn it! I was trying to _avoid_ getting shocked, and I did it anyway! Ugh...

"We really need to keep you away from electricity." Cris said with a slight grin. "Almost as bad as trees."

"Did I ask you for your input, pincushion?" I snapped back as I picked up the knife again.

"No, just felt like giving it."

I just grunted at her as I carefully wedged the tip of the blade in to where I could reach the wires, then switched it on. Wasn't sure if it would work, but I was running out of ideas.

There was a sizzling and popping noise coming from the outlet, along with some smoke, then the lights started flickering, then finally just went out. Wasn't sure if it was a breaker tripping or if I had fried the whole line, but I hoped it was enough. I quickly replaced the cover, then handed back the weapons.

"Cameras are still on, I can still see the lights, but I doubt they will pick us up now." Casey said from where he was peeking around the corner.

"Then move, before someone comes looking." I said and quickly led the way down the now pitch black hallway.

I found the door by pure luck as soon as we hit the far side of the hallway, and quickly pushed my way inside. Someone didn't have as good an aim as I did though. I heard someone run smack into the wall next to the door. "Ow!" Go figure it would be Casey.

"Idiot." Cris mumbled.

"Come on, stupid." Marina said as she yanked him inside the stairwell. By the time the door swung back closed with a slight click, we were already up to the next floor, leaving a now empty hallway behind us.

.

.

Leo was still standing in the same spot, and still pondering Raph's words. He once again felt her light, probing touch and this time he almost let her in when he felt the slight taint of defeat as it slowly pulled away. He closed his eyes and took in a shaky breath. Damn it... He placed his hands on the parapet encircling the top of the structure and leaned on them. He was getting what he wanted, she was slowly starting to give up. And it was tearing him apart.

His head stubbornly prevailed over the argument it was having with his heart. He still kept that wall up. It was for the best. He told himself over and over again. If she gave up, then she would have no reason to keep doing this. No reason to get hurt... He was trembling now from the sheer effort of keeping her out, his heart refusing to give up the fight. Refusing to let her go. "Vicky..." He whispered out into the night air, wanting so bad to reach out to her but refusing to let his mind do so.

Suddenly the struggling turtle didn't find himself alone anymore as a holoform popped into view next to him, sitting on the parapet not far away from him, one leg dangling over the edge and the other propped up with an arm slung across it. The figure looked at him a long moment as Leo struggled to focus, then looked down towards the entrance of the building not so far away. "You know, what you're trying to do isn't going to work." Sides' voice quietly told him.

Leo just remained silent as he kept leaning against the concrete structure.

Sides kept on speaking though, not the least intimidated by the brooding silence. "Now let me explain to you why." Leo almost snapped at him to just shut the fuck up and leave him alone, but a tug in his mind distracted him from doing so. Sides then turned his gaze from the building below to the the turtle he was addressing. "You two are so bound together, so entwined with one another, that you need the bond. You are trying to shut out a being that has essentially become a part of you, thus you are shutting out a part of yourself."

"I suppose you are an expert on this topic." Leo finally snapped at him, what did any of them know of what he felt?

Sides just gave him an amused grin. "More than you know." He glanced over to his twin who was parked next to his silver vehicle form. "Sunny and I are splitspark twins. Your femmes, especially Cris, know exactly what that means, but let me clue you in."

"And if I don't want you too?"

"Then I will stand here and hold you until he has finished explaining." Sunny said as he popped into view next to his brother, glaring at Leo. "You will listen, reptile, because you apparently don't understand the gift you have been given."

Leo just sighed in resignation, given the fact that Hide had easily restrained a very pissed off Raph earlier, he fully well knew Sunstreaker could back up that threat.

"Our spark is so much more than just a simple heart." Sides began, barely even taking in Sunny's sudden appearance. "It holds everything that makes us who we are, our thoughts, memories, feelings. In your terms I think the word soul comes the closest."

Leo just quietly nodded his understanding, seemed easy enough to grasp.

"As I stated earlier, we share one. Our single spark split in two, essentially turning us into two separate halves. Two halves that should have been one. We share everything, much the same way you and Vicky do. And the thought of one of us blocking the other out, is, well...unthinkable. We need that connection, just as we need each other. So yes, Leonardo, I am an expert on the topic." He tilted his head slightly. "And this expert is telling you, again, what you are trying to do isn't going to work. And, one way or another, you will lose that fight if you keep trying. Your need for her is too strong." He grinned at Leo then. "You might as well get used to the fact you have an annoying femme stuck in your head, if you want her there or not. Sunny can tell you more on how to deal with that though. I've been annoying the scrap out of him for longer than I can conveniently remember."

"Don't call me that!" Sunny snapped at him, giving him a good shove, right off of his seat and over the edge of the building. With a startled squeak, Sides' holoform disappeared as he began to plummet down to the pavement below. "Oops..." Sunny smirked at his twin who reappeared suddenly in front of them.

"That was kinda fun." Sides laughed. "Do it again!"

Leo just facepalmed.

.

.

After having to fry the locking mechanism on the stairwell door leading into this floor, I slowly opened it a crack and peeked out. The stairwell opened into a large, open floorplan that pretty much encompassed the whole sixth floor. The place was full of lab equipment, I had seen enough of those in my adventures to pick that out right away. Even the large containment units along the far wall didn't cause me to blink. This was all old news to me.

The place was deserted at the moment, but the pristine condition of the equipment told me the place was used and not neglected. Obviously we had found what we were looking for. You just don't run across one of these hidden labs in the middle of a building like this. Not one that isn't advertised in any way. If it's not listed anywhere then that usually means trouble. Not all the time, but most of the time. And I was seriously getting bad lab vibes with this one.

I let my eyes wander the dim room. There were lights on, but not many. Pretty much just enough to keep someone from stumbling around in here, and to provide the cameras with enough light to record. The only other light was the soft glow of the city around us streaming in from the windows that lined most of the walls. It seemed pretty silly to me to have this many windows if you were trying to keep the place secret, but then the only structure I could make out that reached high enough was the parking garage next door. And the angle was too low for anyone to look in here conveniently. And the only reason I could find it was because of the flagpole that was on top of it. "Great...more cameras." I mumbled to my companions.

"Stationary ones though." Sally said as she also peered out. "Maybe we can find some blinds spots and use those."

"Not enough to do us any good. We'd never get anything done if we have to inch our way around in there, trying to figure out blind spots as we go. Not to mention that one aimed at the door."

"So now what do we do?" Cris asked. "Have hide blow up the nearest transformer?"

"You seriously went there..." I mumbled. "I expect if he does that, your twins are going to get shipped back to Ratchet in pieces." She just laughed. I thought a minute as I looked through the crack again, I really could use Donnie's expertise here. Wait the fuck a minute...did those red camera lights just...go out? I stood there blinking in shock a minute. Cameras just don't turn themselves off...do they?

**-Move!-** Hide snapped in my head. **-He can't keep them shut down for long, he's already fighting the alarm systems!-**

"Go!" I snapped, and we went.

Soon after we went in Sally peeled off to the left as something over that way caught her eye. The rest of us kinda changed course to follow her. "The control panel to the security cameras." She muttered as we gathered around her.

"That would have came in handy like...two minutes ago." Casey sighed.

"Can you do something with it?" I asked Will's cousin and she just nodded. "I'm not as good as Donatello, but I know my way around a security system or two. Comes with the job."

"I've never heard of CIA agents all being trained in security equipment." Cris muttered.

"That's ok, I never heard of Ninja Turtles before, until I saw them." Sally smiled back as she began to work. "And besides, I have a bit ...more advanced training than the norm."

"Super spy stuff?"

"Something like that."

"Ah...makes more sense now."

"Done. We can move freely now, but we need to hurry. Even the best loop feed gets old after awhile and someone is bound to catch on sooner or later."

"You heard her," I told the others "split up and start snooping."

My curiosity was on the containment units along the only part of the wall with no windows, and I began to head that way. My path took me past the row of windows facing the parking garage, and I couldn't help to stop and look out a moment. My eyes tried to pick them, him, out in the darkness but of course they were too far away for me to do that really. I knew they were there, but I couldn't see them. Until a set of headlights flashed. Then flashed again, and a third time.

**-Will you wave at this idiot? Sideswipe won't stop until you do.-** Hide grumbled at me.

I just smiled and shook my head, then waved. I got a double blink back in reply, then it was dark again and I went on my way, secure in the fact the knew where I was at least.

I shifted my attention to what I was walking towards. I hadn't been able to see clearly from across the room, but it was starting to come more into focus the closer I got. Looked like a hunk of metal. Why would they have metal in a containment tube? It wasn't until I got right next to it that I could fully see what I was looking at, and I didn't know if i wanted to throw up or not.

I couldn't tell you what it used to be, but I can tell you what it was now was not what mother nature had intended. I felt sick as I looked it over. The last time so much disgust filled me was when I saw Marina's mother, dead, in a stasis tank similar to this, turned half reptile. The same thing done to her that had been planned for Marina. Someone was trying to play god again, and this ...thing...in front of me was proof of it.

All of it's organs were exposed, the skin, muscles and tissue having been stripped away. The only keeping it all together was a metal like skeleton, a skeleton so twisted and misshapen I can't tell you what it was supposed to resemble. Shaken and disgusted I forced myself to turn away from it. "I think I found out what they are up too." I said in a shaky voice to the others. Of course they all had to come and look, Caitlin regretted it right away as she gagged and quickly spun around.

"Sick fucking bastards." Marina whispered, no doubt images of her mother coming back to life in her mind as it did in mine.

"You can say that again." Cris shook her head.

"We still need to find proof that they are working with the Cons on this." I said. "Let's tear these computers apart."

We split up again and fired up every computer we came across, if it was locked a nice gadget Donnie lent us helped with that. Then we downloaded everything we came across on flash drives for Donnie and Jazz to pick apart later. "Look at this..." Caitlin muttered in disbelief. "They are trying to merge the bots CNA with DNA."

"What kinda of DNA?" Casey asked.

"Any kind."

"What in the hell for?" Cris asked stunned.

"I don't know...This computer just has the lab work on it."

"I think I found the one that might clue us in on what." Marina told us, the soft glow of the monitor lighting up her face. "Looks like someone is wanting to make some kind of...super soldier or something."

"Well, that takes care of the 'how' and 'what'." Sally said. "Now it just leaves us with the 'who'."

"We can figure that out later." I interrupted. "We got what we came for, now we need to get the fuck out of here." We all handed our flash drives to Sally, who then put them all into the pouch she was carrying along with Donnie's hacker tech.

We hadn't even began to move towards the door yet when we all froze as the lights flicked on. "Well now, isn't this a pleasant surprise. I knew about my new associates having problems with interfering interlopers, it just didn't occur to me that I might actually know them. Though I'm thinking maybe it should have considering your past history with a few beings I had in my control once."

Fear froze me in place as I looked at the man standing smugly between us and our way out. Once again Leo's hunch had proven to be dead on. Bishop...


	23. Chapter 23

In spite of himself, Leo had to chuckle a little at Sides' 'blinky waves'. And he smiled as she returned them. He could see her outlined in the faint light behind her and it eased his turmoil a little to set eyes on her, even if it was only a glimpse. Even after she had disappeared from his sight, he still found himself watching the spot she had been standing at moments before. Sighing a little he finally forced his eyes away from the window. "Did they catch on?" He asked Donnie who was sitting on Hide's tailgate.

"I don't think so, I hope not." Donnie's face was worried as he looked up to the windows where they now were. "Sally is a quick one though, she found the system's control panel for the room just as the tamper alarm was about to go off. She was able to override it from inside, then fed a loop to the cameras." He then looked back down to what he was doing.

Leo was by now sharing Donnie's slight worry. They really didn't want to interfere from outside just for this reason, but the team had no other choice. He now hoped that they hadn't been put in danger because of it.

Once again Leo found himself looking to the windows. "Come on..." He said softly. "Hurry up and get out..."

"For someone who wants to break it off with her, you sure do worry a lot." Mikey said from where he was leaning against the parapet.

Leo just closed his eyes and tried not to snap. It seemed everyone was going to take turns giving him a hard time over this. "Of course I worry about her." He told his little brother with as much patience as he could muster. "I didn't want her to do this in the first place."

"But yet he didn't say two peeps to her about it really to stop her." Donnie said, not looking up from his wrist device.

"I know right. Even went out to find the ring to give it back to her." Mikey rolled his eyes. "Dude, seriously, if you went to her room to give her back the ring, and not even tell her 'No, you can't go' then you can't be taking your own decision seriously." Mikey then snorted. "That half assed excuse you gave her really didn't cut it."

Leo narrowed his eyes at Mikey. "And how do you know what was said in her room when it was just me and her?"

Mikey shrugged. "I listened at the door."

"Oh for shit's sake!" Leo snapped. "Do you have to stick your nose in everything?"

"When my normally wise and all knowing brother acts like a dipshit, then yes I do!" The normally easy going turtle snapped back. "You hurt her, Leo. At least she had the dignity to apologize for what she said to you, and you brush it off like it meant nothing. Then keep up this charade to make _you_ feel better! Fuck that it's tearing her to tiny little pieces!"

"He's got a point." Donnie added, finally looking up.

"And what on earth makes you think it's not tearing me apart?" Leo finally exploded. "You think I don't know that I need her! Dammit..." Leo leaned onto Hide's frame for support, his feelings finally overriding his head.

"And there it is." Raph said quietly as he walked up. "Leo, we've only been trying to get you to see what you are trying so hard to hide. You can't leave her. Even for the sake of protecting her. She means too much to you."

"Yeah bro, you did the best you could, she knows that. She even told you she wasn't mad at you, but herself. She's already forgiven you, if she really even felt that way to begin with."

"Knowing Vicky, I doubt she did." Donnie calmly said. "She's never really blamed you for anything, but she takes it out on herself quite hard."

"But I've failed her..." Leo said damn near tears now. "I should have been there, should have done something..."

"You did. You got her out of those situations."

"Situations she shouldn't have even been in."

"Ok, hardhead," Raph said, in a strangely gentle tone, strange from him anyway "you yell at her for her self pity and fears, what exactly are you doing right now?"

Leo looked up at him, not knowing what to say. Raph was right and he knew it.

"Exactly." Raph smiled a little. "Leo, you're not the only one who has to live with this guilt, you were just the first." Donnie nodded in quiet agreement as Mikey just quietly looked on. "We've all failed them at one point or another."

Leo looked at his brothers, not seeing the anger anymore in their eyes, only the understanding that they knew how he felt. They knew what was going on inside of him better than he thought they did. "Let her in, bro." Mikey softly said. "All you are doing is punishing both of you, for something neither of you could really do anything about."

Taking strength from his brother's firm support, he approached that wall. Again doubts and fears washed over him, trying to push him away, wanting to keep it in place. He closed his eyes, took in a deep shuddering breath to steady himself, to get himself back under control. He didn't want his own turmoil to be the first thing she felt. Then with a final glance around at his brothers, he tore it down.

He didn't even have time to send out a probing thought when he was slammed hard with her fear and his head snapped around to the windows he had supposed to have been watching, to find the lights on. Hide had also sensed something was up as he transformed to his bipedal mode, dumping Donnie to the roof of the garage, his eyes fixed now on the same spot Leo's was. Something had gone terribly wrong...

.

.

"So, please tell me, where are your guardians?" Bishop asked as his men flanked out behind him. "I seriously doubt you snuck in here alone."

"Why, can't accept the fact that some measly humans got past your security?" Cris asked him. "Doesn't say much about your gadgets, does it?"

"On the contrary, you did quite well with the cameras, but didn't consider the fact that I might have the computers monitored."

Oooops...Note to self, file that for future reference.

"Nice to see you again Marina. I see you kept your good health...somehow. I'm sure Donatello was behind that. I'll have to see if I can get how out of you."

She just quietly glared at the man.

"Now would be a good time to figure out a way out of here." Cris mumbled to me very quietly.

I shook myself out of my scared stupor and looked around. There was really only one way out. "Through them."

"Good, I've been itching for a normal fight for awhile now." Casey grinned, dropping his mask as they came rushing towards us.

I quickly learned that when she was in a healthy state, Sally could seriously hold her own in a fight. She was almost as good as us, and I think the only thing holding her back was the fact we had slight, unnatural, advantages on her. She didn't fight with a weapon, but she seemed to get along just fine without one. Caitlin though was way out of her element and the rest of us did our best to shield her from most of the goon squad.

"You know," Cris said as she leaned out of the way of a swing, then twirled her hanbo and slammed it down onto the offending arm "once, just once, I'd like something to go according to plan..."

"Where's the fun in that?" Casey slammed a bat into the stomach of one guy, then spun and nailed another upside the head.

"You've got a twisted sense of fun." Cris leaned back out of the way of another punch, and I came over her bent torso to slam the guys with an asp against his chest and Cris kicked him away.

We ducked, dodged, dipped, hit, kicked, punched and jabbed to hold our ground, and that's all we did was hold it. If we moved the wrong way it would have left Caitlin vulnerable, so we had to stay put to weed these guys out enough to where we could make a break for it.

That idea seemed to work well, until Bishop himself got involved. I didn't even realize it _was_ him when I took a swing at him, having lost sight of him in the commotion, until his arm blocked my weapon as it came in. For an instant his eyes met mine, his face sported an evil, knowing grin and my blood froze. "I already hurt you once, so quick to go for twice?" He grabbed my arm and them easily lifted me up into the air and slammed me into the floor. Then without even pausing he placed a foot on my neck, and began to press down.

"Fucking bastard!" Cris growled as she went after him, with Marina, in her own quiet rage, by her side. Together they took him on, and together he knocked them back. But they did unbalance him enough to where I slapped his leg away and rolled to my feet.

His eyes narrowed as he took in the sheer speed of what just happened, not nearly as quick as the turtles, but obviously quicker than a normal human. Marina was explainable to him, ours wasn't as far as I knew. How would he know? He wasn't there when the transfusions happened, and I took great care to avoid him if I could. The guys could handle him, I couldn't and that was one of the things that scared me to death about him. Bishop himself wasn't normal. His eyes narrowed as he took me and Cris in as we moved out of his immediate reach. "Interesting. Seems like there is something here I need to look into."

"Over my dead body." I hissed at him.

"Hadn't planned it any other way." And he came in again. Cris, Marina and I literally fought for our lives, and all we could do was hold him back, barely, and we were quickly losing that fight, even with three against one. With our attention focused on Bishop, Sally and Casey were quickly getting over run to the point Caitlin was forced to help out, snatching a golf club out of Casey's golf bag and hammering whoever she could. It wasn't pretty, but she was strong enough to make it effective. For a short while she even managed to hold them back with Casey and Sally until Bishop got a solid hit in on Marina and sent her flying into my friends, then the tables quickly turned against us as Cris and I were both knocked on our asses right after that.

"I think I'll start with you." He told me as he roughly lifted me up by the arm. "Just because I didn't get to finish the surgery I started. And I hate leaving unfinished work behind me." Then he brought his other hand to my throat. "Any of you move, and I snap her neck right here!" That effectively made all of my friends freeze in place.

Then the building itself shook lightly, then again then three more time in quick succession. Bishop looked around in curiosity, trying to figure out what was causing it. It distracted him enough to where he took the hand from my throat an began gesturing with it as he barked out commands to his men. His other hand still had me in a firm grip though.

His men really didn't have time to move far in their search for the tremors, because a moment later the windows broke inward with a loud shatter. One yellow and one silver fist retraced from that opening and turtles started flying in, more than likely aided in their momentum as they literally ate up the distance from the windows to where we were at.

Quicker than any of us could really register, Mikey slammed into Bishop at the same time Leo wrapped his arms around me. Once Mikey had broken the hold Bishop had on me, Leo then spun away from him, still in midair, and hit the floor in a roll, shielding me from the worst of the impact. "Get to the windows!" He roared over the mayhem that broke out again at the arrival of the turtles.

Bishop snarled and looked like he was about to take the fight to Leo, but his eyes quickly widened as Ironhide caught sight of him. Hide fully intended to keep his promise he had made as an arm came up and that telltale whine started. Not even Bishop was brave enough to stick around to see the outcome of that, he hauled ass and left his men to the beat down they were now receiving. Hide grumbled in frustration as he noticed he wasn't going to get a clear shot in without harming the rest of us

Leo watched Bishop go, more than a little frustrated, before he followed his own order and dragged me to the window, then just threw my ass out of it. I didn't even have time to let out a startled scream before Bee caught me and placed me securely on his shoulder.

It rained family members there for a few seconds as one by one they were all forcibly vacated like I was, Cris screaming bloody murder until Sides caught her. Then the guys themselves came flipping out, finding a perch on which ever Bot they could.

"Always wondered what it felt like to be in a king kong movie." Mikey grinned at me from Bee's other shoulder as they began the climb down.

"I think I could have done without the experience." I told him as I started to shake, violently, as what just happened caught up with me.

He frowned slightly as he looked at me. "You ok?"

I couldn't help it, I started crying. "No, Mikey, I'm not..." Was all I could get out.

I could feel Leo watching me, and my eyes automatically sought him out where he was riding down on Jazz. When our eyes met his jaw clenched slightly, his eyes were uncertain.

We made it to the ground quickly after that, six stories really isn't a great distance for these guys after all. We didn't even play the usual who rides where fiasco, the bots just transformed down with who ever was riding on them ending up riding in them as they hauled ass out of there to meet up with Will and Epps on the outskirts of town. It would be there that the next move would be planned, and I was seriously thinking by that point that mine should be going home.


	24. Chapter 24

"Well, that's a surprise." Epps said as we pulled up to a stop near where the soldiers were waiting for us. "Was expecting to have to cover your asses, since trouble likes to follow you. Looks like we brought the boys along for nothing."

Leo just grunted as he struggled to get his big frame out of Jazz. Wasn't very easy with the swords strapped to his back. He ended up having to take the harness off, that helped but not much. I would have laughed if I had been in the mood to do so. "Trouble is bigger than you think." Leo said once he was finally free of the small car.

"You had to blow your cover I take it?" Will asked.

"No, actually we didn't. Because the second party involved know exactly who we are so there really wasn't any cover to blow." Donnie said as he walked up.

"Yeah man," Mikey added as he slid out of Bee "and he isn't too fond of us."

"Bishop." Raph clarified at the confused looks.

"Son of a bitch..." Epps mumbled. "Fucker actually went traitor on us."

"I doubt he was very patriotic to begin with." Leo grimly told him. "I think I've told you once, if he can't go after you publicly, he will do so under the radar."

"That you did." Ironhide agreed.

"I guess we should have seen it coming then." Will sighed.

"Still, I'm not sure exactly what's going on." Donnie mumbled. "There has to be some kind of deal going on here. Bishop doesn't do anything without some reason."

"Maybe this will help you figure it out." Sally told him as she tossed him the pouch. "That we did manage to do before all hell broke loose."

"I caught a glimpse of some of the work as it was downloading." Caitlin added. "From what I could tell he is trying to combine genetics."

"What kind of genetics?"

"Bot and whatever fits his disgusting fancy."

They all just stared at her.

"Please tell me you are joking, love." Mikey told her.

She shook her head. "I wish I was."

"The concept doesn't seem to be working well either." Cris sighed as she leaned against Sides. "He had a specimen in the lab and it looked like it didn't turn out the way he might have wanted."

"Alive?" Will asked her.

Cris just looked sadly at him. "Not anymore. Nothing could have survived that."

"Another damn trophy for his collection." Marina muttered in anger.

I just sat quietly, huddled in Bee's passenger seat with my knees hugged against my chest. Bee had opened the door for me to get out if I wanted, but I didn't want too. He didn't seem to mind as I sat there, even put on some quiet music for me. For a guy who couldn't talk, he was very perceptive as he tried to lend me some kind of comfort in whatever way he could.

They kept talking but I tuned them out for the most part. Caught up as I was with my own thoughts, replaying what had happened in my mind over and over again. Once again I had been faced with one of my living nightmares. And once again he had come close to snuffing me out. This was hard enough for me to deal with in normal circumstances, when I had that secure comfort solidly placed inside my head. Now that I was pretty much alone, I couldn't handle it. A tear slid down my face, followed by a few more.

It didn't go unnoticed. Bee revved his engine angrily, calling everyone's attention to him. "Aww shit..." Mikey mumbled as he began to move towards me, Bee however backed up from him, then revved his engine again.

"What the heck Bee!" Miked griped.

"I don't think he wants you to do it." Cris told him.

Hide transformed into his bot mode, then glared down at Leo. "No, he doesn't. And I've had about enough of this foolishness myself!" He bent down and picked a shocked Leo up and brought him close to his face. "It's _your_ responsibility, _you_ deal with it." He growled al Leo. "Or I swear to Primus I will rip you out of your carapace and stuff you back in backwards!"

"I don't even think that is physically possible." Donnie mused.

"Shut up Donnie, he's pissed enough to try that theory out." Raph said as he eyed the large bot that still held Leo dangling in the air as he stomped over towards Bee and I, then literally dropped Leo to the ground.

"Fix it, _now_!" He snapped down at Leo who, wincing a little, picked himself back up.

I watched as Leo stood back up, brushing the dirt off. Then his eyes met mine, taking in the wetness he found there before letting out a sigh. Hide gave him a gentle nudge with his foot, gentle for him anyway, Leo still stumbled the last few feet forward. "Will you stop!" Leo snapped up at him.

"When you stop stalling!" Came the reply. "You stubborn thing, you've already admitted you need her, and I can feel she needs you! Neither one of you can function without the other! So far I have kept quiet on the matter, but this stupidity is annoying me to no end!"

"Get's right to the point, doesn't he?" Mikey noted.

"Saves a lot of time." Jazz chuckled.

"That and Hide really isn't known for his diplomacy." Sides chipped in.

Sighing in defeat, and glaring at everyone around him who thought this was more than a little amusing, Leo turned back to me. Once again his eyes searched my face as the others quietly watched.

I just sat there, with my arms wrapped tight around my knees as I turned my head away from him. So many emotions filling my head, and I didn't know which one to address first. Finally I just summed it all up with one statement. "Leo, I want to go home. I can't...I can't deal with this anymore."

"I guess I should be happy. It was what I was wanting for you to do after all."

My eyes teared up some more as he said that, I never expected an 'I told you so' from him. Not only was he wanting me to go, now he was rubbing it in that I finally broke down enough to do so.

His hand reached around and turned my head to face him, and his thumb gently brushed away my tears as his eyes held mine. "If you want to go, I'll let you. This sudden turn of events may have pushed you farther than you can handle, considering your current state of mind. I state I helped put you in." He took a few moments to just watch me as he kept stroking my cheek with his thumb. "I did more damage by trying to force you to see things logically. To try and make you understand. But I'm quickly finding out, there isn't anything logical about love. When your heart and head move in the same direction, it's all great. Unfortunately my head couldn't keep up there for awhile, and I acted like a silly ass. As I said, if you want to go, I won't stop you. Lord knows I deserve it. But before you make that choice, see if this helps."

Then he was there. He pretty much flooded me with his emotions, his love. Like a warm blanket I felt him wrap himself around my own tumbling feelings, placing his love in between me and my fears and doubts. _'I am so sorry, dear one. I never meant to hurt you, never wanted to hurt you. I understand that what I did will take awhile to fix, but I'm willing to try. I love you, I need you and never again will I push you away.'_

_'Leo...' _I reached out to him, with both my mind and my arms and he complied with my unspoken request. He pulled me out of the car to where he was kneeling and wrapped his arms around me as I held him tight. I was crying again, but this time it was to let go of the fears I had of losing him. He gently rocked me, ignoring everyone around us as he kissed my hair while I cried into his chest.

We stayed like that for awhile, until I had pretty much cried myself out. Even after the last tear fell I just held him, needing to feel him against me. He shared that same need as he kept his firm, gentle hold on me. Both of us lost in our own little world.

Until we were snapped back into our surroundings. "That wasn't so difficult now, was it?" Ironhide said smugly from above us.

Raph bust out laughing. "And it only took all of us to get through to him."

"I know." Mikey grinned. "And that was hardly any effort, considering Leo can be as stubborn as you when he gets something set in his head."

"That's the god honest truth." Cris smiled.

Leo just ignored them all, his attention solely focused on me as I finally lifted my head up. He brushed a few strands of hair that had slipped out of my braid behind my ear. "You still want to go home? I don't blame you if you do."

"No." I quietly told him. "I'll stay. I know this won't be easy, but I'm not giving up just yet."

"That's my stubborn girl." He smiled as his arms tightened around me again.

Suddenly Bee turned the radio up and music poured out of his chassis. It didn't take me long to figure out the song. 'I won't back down' From Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers rang out across the landscape and I listened to it as it played. "How appropriate." I finally said after a few moments.

"Bee always did hava knack fer pickin' tha righ' tunes." Jazz agreed.

Bee just happily honked his horn, then played it again, just because he wanted too.

.

.

Ratchet was about to blow his processors.

Here he was, trying to set up the new med-bay to make sure it ran at the peak of efficiency, something he had been trying to do for days now but kept getting interrupted, and he had all these children running around! Where were Blaster and Smith! They should have been here to get them thirty minutes ago!

Grumbling, he walked his holoform over to where the twins were rolling a ball across the floor and moved them back into the corner he had told them to play in, for the tenth time. Amy and Dennis were having a, very loud, discussion on what to watch on the silly thing called television. Waste of time, that contraption, if he wanted to watch idiotic beings hop and skip around and acting stupid he'd start watching the terror twins. He finally just made them turn the noisy thing off.

Then he had to fish Dante out of his spare parts box he kept for his human equipment. The little fragger was trying to build something with them, and really didn't care if the pieces didn't fit. And Ari was definitely in need of a diaper change, and he wasn't even going near _that_. He may be a medic, having seen countless injuries, having had his servos inside of numerous bodies to repair them, but he was not touching that organic bio bomb around that femme's bottom. _Not_ going to happen.

He heard someone rattling around in a toolbox full of human tools and growled in frustration as he saw Thane pulling out those tools, and throwing the ones he didn't want over his shoulder. He had just organized them from the last time he caught him in there, for Prime's sake! Arrrrgh...how can such little things get into so much trouble!

Ratchet stomped over to the little boy, and firmly picked him up bringing his face close to the little boy's. "Didn't I _just_ tell you _not_ to play with that?"

Thane just nodded calmly as he returned Ratchet's glare with a smile.

"Then_ why_ are you in there again?"

"Wanna be like Ratchet!" Came the happy reply, right before Thane brought a wrench down, on top of Ratchet's head. "Get out, Fragger!"

Yup, there was no doubt this one was Raphael's son. Ratchet tried real hard not to scream. "Stay out of my toolbox!" He told the child, putting him down as far away from the it as he could. Then he got nailed upside the head again, this time with a ball. He didn't need to look to know who was responsible, the twin sets of giggles more than clued him in. "Can you all just behave and be quiet for five minutes!" He finally roared, his patience at an end.

And that of course sent them all into tears after a stunned moment of silence. Now he was stuck with seven upset kids, granted the older ones weren't crying but they looked like they wanted too. He sighed in resignation, tinged with more than a little guilt. "Ok, no need to cry now." He tried to calm them. "Look, here is your ball back." He rolled the ball across the floor to the twins, and it went completely ignored. "Thane, you want the wrench back?" He held it out to the little boy, to get the same result.

He frantically tried to think of something to get them to calm down. What did the children of this planet like? What could he use to distract them? He remembered that they had been thrilled to ride in his vehicle mode, even if they were running from the Cons at the time. It was that excitement that had kept them from freaking out honestly. "You want to play in the truck?"

They looked at him a little confused, until he let his holoform go and fired up his engine where he had been parked on the far side of med-bay. He carefully pulled forward and opened all of his doors when he stopped. He was immediately swarmed over with excited children. And they were getting into everything. He kept the dangerous stuff locked up while they romped around, turning the siren on and off, honked his horn, flashed his lights, hopped on his seats among other things. Strange thing was, he didn't mind it one bit.

It was then, of course, that Blaster and Smith finally decided to show up. "Ratchet, Jazz just commed in. They are on the way-" Blaster said as he walked in the door. He froze as he caught sight of the medbot, and his now very occupied charges who were laughing and giggling away.

"Not a word out of you." Ratchet told the stunned into silence mech and human, and they both just nodded in agreement.


	25. Chapter 25

Raph quietly watched his brother as they rode. And he in turn watched Vicky as she slept, exhausted, in the back seat. Raph knew that her being so worn out was more than just from tonight's escapades.

Leo sighed quietly as he turned back to face forward in the driver's seat, and tiredly rubbed his own eyes. Raph eyed his brother a moment, he knew there was still something bothering Leo and he was pretty much sure it didn't have much to do with Bishop becoming a player in the current situation.

Leo caught him looking, then sighed again. "I really screwed up, Raph." He said quietly before looking out the window again.

Raph leaned further back into his own seat and propped his foot up on the dashboard. "Yes, you did." He agreed with his brother. "But I can understand why you did what you did, I just feel you went about it the wrong way."

"I just...Raph, I just didn't know what else to do."

It was then that Raph decided to open up himself. He had told Leo he wasn't the only one who dealt with guilt, and he meant it. Maybe it was time for Raph to play mind shrink to the one who usually took up that responsibility. "You know, I was real tempted not to let Cris come out anymore either." Raph finally admitted to Leo and his brother turned his gaze back to him. Raph really didn't notice because now he was looking thoughtfully out the window. "Seeing my sai stuck in her like that, Leo, that sight still haunts me. She was dying, from my own weapon, and I couldn't do a damn thing for her. For the first time in my life, I felt helpless." Raph let out his own sigh then. "Not a feeling I really enjoyed."

"I can relate to that."

"I'm sure you can." Raph looked back at him. "Still, as much as I wanted to keep her safe in the lair after that, I also fully understood that I couldn't. Cris and Vicky are very different, Vicky being the more calmer of the two where Cris tends to go off at the smallest thing." He grinned then. "Kinda like me and you if you think about it. But there is something they both share, they both are stubborn as hell and refuse to back down. To push either one of them to stay behind, it goes against what makes them...well...them."

"That's not always a good thing." Leo chuckled then. "But, then, are we any different?"

"Exactly." Raph grinned again. "If you think about it, they are pretty much just female versions of us. Can't really expect them to just stay behind, they can't. Anymore than you could just sit by and do nothing if the roles were reversed."

Vicky stirred then a little, mumbled something in her sleep and settled back down again. Leo's eyes had wandered back to her at the slight movement, and stayed there. "I understand that, now. But what did I do to her Raph? Even though she accepted my apology, the hurt is still there from what I did. I felt it. God...Raph...what damage did I do with my stupidity..."

Raph looked at his brother a long time before he answered. "I don't know Leo. I really don't."

"There is something I do know." Hide broke his silence. "If someone does not remove his foot from my dashboard, he is going to lose it."

Grumbling, Raph brought his foot back down.

.

.

They arrived at the base a few hours later, and Leo carefully lifted the still sleeping Vicky out of the vehicle to take her to her room. That thought stung him, more than a little. 'Her room' because he had pushed her away and caused it to be 'her room'. Lord, he had a lot to make up for.

"All of you, get some rest." He quietly told his family once they had all unloaded. They had all had a rough night, and it was starting to show on some faces, one of them being the woman who slept on in his arms. She hadn't even stirred when he got her out.

"Pffft. Like I'm going to be able to." Donnie said. "You know I'm not going to do anything but start on this puzzle, wouldn't be able to sleep anyway if I didn't." Marina just let out an exasperated sigh at that.

Leo just raised an eyeridge at him. "Don't over do it."

"Like Ah woul' let 'im." Jazz grinned.

Leo walked along with Mikey by his side, and the youngest opened any doors they came across for the burdened turtle. If the happy go lucky Mikey only knew how burdened he actually was right now. Subconsciously, Leo held her a little tighter as he walked. They moved quietly, not wanting to wake Vicky and because it seemed Mikey didn't feel like talking for once.

"She looks tired." Mikey finally broke the silence.

"I'm sure she is." Leo answered. "I know her well enough to know she probably didn't sleep well the last day or two."

"Yeah...Leo, not trying to rub this in, but, Bishop popping into this mess when he did, might have royaly screwed her up. Caitlin said she completely froze up in there for a minute. And she's tried to face him head on before with no hesitation."

"Froze up how?"

"Dude, she was scared shitless... She did snap out of it, but still..."

"I see." Leo mentally cursed himself then, she had never frozen up facing anything. To be honest, the problem usually was trying to get her to _not_ rush into things. For her behavior to change so profoundly, to go from one extreme to another told him a lot. And he wasn't liking what he was seeing emerge.

"I know it's not really my business, but Leo, I have to know. Is she really ok? I mean, she seems fine, but then she doesn't."

"Mikey, honestly, I can't answer that." Leo told him with a sigh.

Silence filled the hallway as Mikey took in Leo's words. "Well, then, like Hide said, fix it."

Leo shook his head slightly, if only it were that easy. "Little brother, I'm not sure I can."

"You've had no problems with it before...I mean, dude, every time she started freaking out you've always found a way to calm her down. Like the time she found out we actually had to get the Dark Turtle's help. She was so angry and scared she broke Donnie's chair. Yet, you fixed that."

"That was back when she trusted me fully, Mikey." Leo looked at him. "I don't think I have that level of trust from her right now."

"Dude, why wouldn't she?"

Leo stopped at her door and took a moment to put his thoughts into words. "Mikey, you know her past." He just nodded. "She's been been hurt so many times, each time jading her more and more towards ever finding what she has been wanting for so long. She was on the verge of giving up on love completely."

"Then you stumble along."

"Yes, then I stumbled along." He allowed himself a small smile at the memory of her poking him in disbelief as he stood in her living room. "She already had a preconception of us, you know that." Again Mikey just nodded. "Because she has known all of our personalities before we even met her, she felt safe with us, with me. She allowed herself to feel again. She believed that I wouldn't hurt her, not intentionally anyway. Then I turn around and shatter that belief she had been holding onto for years. So no, she doesn't fully trust me right now and I'd be surprised if she did."

"So you spent the last five years trying to live up to her expectations? Is that what you are trying to say? If you did that was pretty rotten on it's own."

"No, Mikey. She understood there were differences between us and what she already knew. She figured that out fairly quickly and I didn't have to live up to anything. She took me as I stood before her, not for what she grew up with. And I didn't offer her anything else. But she still held onto that hope, that belief, without even knowing she was doing it."

"That makes sense, I guess. Might be a little hard to let got of something like that. And, no offense, that's a pretty shitty way of having to let it go."

"None taken. You didn't say anything I haven't already said to myself."

Sighing himself now, Mikey reached out and opened the door for him. "I'm going to go check on the kiddos, then take Donnie some coffee, have a feeling he might need it." He paused a moment as he moved out of the way for Leo. "You going to be here if something comes up?"

"I'll be here."

"'Kay. I'll let Donnie know." Then he closed the door quietly.

Leo walked over to the bed and smiled at it's messy state, she never really did like making beds. He was a little grateful for it this time as he laid her down, he didn't have to fight the covers. He carefully stripped her of her boots and gear, then gently covered her up. Not wanting to risk waking her up by undressing her the rest of the way. That and he wasn't sure if she would even want him to do that right now.

He after removing his own weapons, he sat in the only chair in the room, tired himself, but unable to crawl in bed next to her. Leo honestly felt they weren't ready for that yet. He had too much on his mind to sleep anyway, and he needed to think.

Once her initial relief had passed, he had felt the change in her. As he had told the others, he still felt that pain in her, felt that loss of trust. She also had an underlying fear that he would someday leave her, fears and doubts he had put there.

Angrily he took off his mask and threw it on the nightstand before rubbing his tired eyes. If he thought a simple apology would fix this huge mess he made, he was sorely mistaken.

Now, now was the time she needed to stay away from missions. She needed time to straighten her head out, figure out a way to deal with what is going on. And he couldn't even suggest it for fear of sending her into an even deeper turmoil. Any attempt he would make to try and do so would be view as a suggestion that he didn't really mean that apology. He did mean it, those words had come from his heart. He just hoped that she could see it herself and choose to stay behind, but he knew she wouldn't.

His eyes wandered back over to her sleeping form, her face filled with a peace he hadn't seen since he pushed her away. He sincerely hoped she was dreaming of better, happier days, because the ones in the near future promised to be very rough. For all of them.


	26. Chapter 26

I woke up to darkness. I did that what the fuck how did I get here scramble before it dawned on me that I was in my own room in my own bed...alone.

Frantically I reached out even as I bolted up in the bed, a fear setting in that he wouldn't be there, that I had just imagined what had taken place, that he didn't want me...

_'I'm here, dear one.' _Came his quiet reply and I collapsed back into the bed, shaking a little. I just laid there, still tired and not really wanting to get up.

After a few moments, the door quietly opened and I turned to look to see who came in. Leo paused a moment as he stood by the door, as if he really wasn't sure if he was wanted here, before kicking it softly closed with his foot since his hands were full with a tray of food. He quietly walked over and set it down, and the smell was making my stomach growl like a son of a bitch, before turning on the small lamp.

"Cris told me you haven't eaten much the last couple of days." He quietly told me. "Add that along with the fact you haven't been sleeping good, I'm surprised you had the energy to lead anything last night."

I sat up, feeling a little confused. "Last night?"

He smiled at me a little. "Yes, last night. You've slept all day."

"You have got to be kidding me." I mumbled.

"You needed it." Leo said simply as he took the tray and placed it on my lap. He then moved to the chair and sat down as I quietly began to eat. "And I'm not so sure you got enough. You still look tired."

"I am." I admitted. No use trying to deny that since he was back in my head again. I subconsciously sent out my thought to confirm the fact, and he readily let me in. It felt so good to have him there again. Now that I had grown so used to him being there, when he had pulled away I had felt so empty, incomplete...alone. I kinda just picked at my food for a moment, suddenly not feeling very hungry.

He watched as I struggled for a moment, then he reached out and softly reassured me, again, that he was indeed there. "Eat, dear one. I'm not going anywhere."

We were both quiet as I ate, I really didn't feel like talking and he was looking thoughtfully out the window. But he kept that connection there so I didn't have to reach so far. To be honest, I clung to it like a drowning person clinging to a life preserver. Clung to it hard, out of fear of it suddenly being snatched away from me again.

Finally I pushed the tray away, unable to eat anymore. He frowned slightly at the amount I had left on there, but didn't push it. He just stood up and moved the try back to the nightstand, then sat next to me on the bed.

"Kids taken care of?" I asked him, more because I didn't know what to really say than out of any worry for them. I knew Leo and the others would make sure they would be, just like they all knew I would look out for theirs if the need arose.

"They are fine." He assured me, then smiled a little. "As a matter of fact, good luck getting them out of med-bay. Seems Ratchet has taken a liking to them all. He insisted that since the rooms here were too small for us to really have the kids with us, they could bunk in there."

"You have got to be shitting me...Ratchet? Mr. 'I'll hit you upside the head with a wrench if you don't shut the fuck up and get out of my way' is actually taking the night watch with them? Good god, if this keeps up we are never going to be able to take our kids back home...The bots see the kids more than I do."

"Jealous?" He teased me.

I tiredly shook my head. "No, not really. I miss having them around so much, but I'm grateful for the fact they are so readily accepted, and welcome, here. They are making friends with some very cool beings, I won't stand in the way of that. But if they do end up missing after we get back home, at least I know where to start looking."

He laughed a little at that. "If they let you find them is another question."

"I'll have Donnie attach trackers to all their asses before we leave. I'll find those kid stealing tinheaps...trust me..."

His face turned serious, and a little pained as I said that. "Me trusting you isn't the issue right now."

I grew quite, not sure what to say to that. I opened my mouth a time or two, trying to say something to deny what he was suggesting, but couldn't. He just sat there, watching me with those intent eyes of his, until I finally had to look away. "I'm sorry..." I whispered to him, scared of losing him all over again. Once again I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

He reached out a hand and took one of mine. "No. I'm not going to leave you for feeling something I caused."

**-Reptile! Why are you making her leak lubricant from her optics again!?-** Hide thundered loud enough to make us both wince.

_'You told me to fix it, I'm trying to fix it! Now butt out and go harass Ratchet or something!'_

There was a stunned silence a moment.** -Very well, but if you pull that idiotic stunt of yours again, I will personally see to it that you will find yourself as Ratchet's next patient.-**

Leo just sighed. "Damn bots are worse than the Scooby-Doo gang...always meddling in everything..."

**-Stop acting like imbeciles and we wouldn't have a reason to.-**

_'Go away!'_

I had actually managed a small smile during that exchange. And it gave me a moment to collect myself and wipe my eyes, only to find him watching me again, waiting. "Leo, it's just...How do I know you won't do this to me again? How do I know that you won't pull away when the shit hits the fan? I'm not going to lie, that fucking hurt. Still hurts. After everything we have been through together, that you would just walk away from it..." I took in a deep shuddering breath to hold back the tears again. "Granted, it was my fault too for lashing out at you like that, to make you feel like it was your fault and that you had to go that route and I am sorry. So, so, sorry for taking my anger and frustration out on you. But I never expected you to actually do it...to give up on us..." I looked at him with tear filled eyes. "I never would have given up on you..." Then I did cry, I couldn't hold it back anymore.

Then he was there, pulling me close to him as I quietly cried. After I had calmed down, he quietly murmured in my ear. "I understand there is nothing I can say to make those feelings go away, dear one, so I'm not even going to try. All I can do is show you how I feel, but that also doesn't seem like enough. Please give me a chance to prove to you that you can trust me again. We've both made mistakes with this, mainly me for so overreacting, but I want to make this work. If we have to start all over again, then so be it. I love you, Vicky. I love you so much."

"I do love you, Leo." I replied, still sniffling a little. "I just...need...hell I don't know what I need..."

"Time to think is what you need." He held me a little tighter. We just sat quietly for awhile, and honestly I was starting to drift off again. He caught on and pulled out the large t-shirt I usually slept in from under my pillow, where it had been shuffled to in my sleep. Then he handed it to me. "Get some sleep, dear one."

I just nodded tiredly as I took it from him. Then just sat there as I held it, then looked at him. Uncertainty filled me as for the first time since I can conveniently remember, I was actually embarrassed to undress in front of him. I didn't realize how much my trust had actually been shattered...and I teared up again. Would things ever be the same between us again?

He reached out a hand and brushed the tears away. "Like I said, we will start over if we have too. I'm just down the hall if you need me."_ 'And I'm here, I'll always be here.' _Then he got up, picked the tray and walked towards the door, pausing a moment when he reached it. _'I love you.'_ He sent out one final time and he quietly left.

.

.

Leo watched over Dennis and Amy as they sparred. It was his turn to train them today, and he had to admit they were progressing nicely. He just had to make sure they didn't over do it and beat the crap out of each other. That's happened a few times. A simple sparring match turning into a full blow wrestling match. He learned the warning signs quick enough to intervene when it was about to get to that point though. Especially with Amy, that girl was so much like her mother, happy go lucky...until you piss her off.

That thought brought his eyes up to where Vicky was, sparring with Mikey today. She seemed a little better, but she still had dark circles under her eyes even if they weren't as bad as they were the night before.

Mikey also gauged her overall appearance and set the tempo accordingly, trying to not push her too much, without her noticing that's what he was doing. She still kept him on his toes though, and his fingers got whacked a few times.

Leo sensed a suckerpunch behind him about to happen and quickly turned to glare at the younger of the two as he caught her fist in midair. Her brother had paused a moment to get a drink of water and had his back turned towards her. Amy just looked up at him, wide eyed, as he firmly kept his grip on the about to offend appendage. "How do you _do_ that?"

He just looked at her. "Amy, didn't the last four years, going on five, teach you not to try that with me?"

"I was just trying to figure out how you do that, Leo."

"By using your brother as a guinea pig to find that out?" He raised an eyeridge at her.

She shrugged. "Only one I had available."

"I see." Of course he didn't buy that one for a minute. She was going to nail him just because he managed to get past her, sloppy, guard today. "Wall, flips, now." She grumbled as she moved to the nearest wall in the gym they were in and began her punishment. Leo then looked down at Dennis. "Since your partner got herself into trouble, you think you can take me on?"

His eyes lit up. "Really?" This was the first time he actually offered to train with one of them, not just instruct them.

"It's about time for you both to start. Don't want you to get complacent with you two just fighting each other."

So the boy unleashed everything he had learned so far on him. Of course he was no match for Leo, but Leo scaled his own efforts way down. He gave advice even as Dennis punched, kicked and dodged and over all he was pleased again with the way they were progressing. When the Dennis was gasping for air and getting tired, Leo called a halt. "That's enough for today. Go get cleaned up." He gave the child a good hair tussle before he scampered off. Then without even turning to look he spoke to Amy. "The hop, clap, count maneuver didn't work with Mikey when we were younger, it's not going to work with you, Amy. Start again." Her answering groan told him he had caught her without even catching her.

Donnie chuckled as he walked over. "One of those days huh..."

Leo tried not to roll his eyes. "Those two are hard enough to manage, I don't know how father was able to deal with all four of us at once."

"The same way you do it now, with a lot of patience. You got a minute?" Donnie asked and Leo nodded. "I picked those flashdrives apart and Jazz and I, along with Blaster, combed over all of it."

"And?"

"It doesn't make sense." Donnie sighed. "I mean, Bishop's research in that lab indicated that he is trying to merge the two genetic strands into one being."

"Sounds like something he would do. Were you able to find out why?"

"That part was easy to figure out. He's trying to find ways to integrate good aspects of both CNA and DNA into something that actually functions. Then he's going to try and mass produce the effect, either by converting humans or raise them in labs."

"What in the hell for?" Leo was so shocked, though if he really thought about it he really shouldn't be, that he momentarily forgot about the flipping child behind him. "Amy! That's enough, go get cleaned up." He called to her.

"_Fi_nally..." She mumbled before leaving the gym, grumbling the whole way out.

"From the way it looks, to use them against the bots. All of them, good and bad."

"Sounds like a real life terminator setup." Mikey said as he and Vicky approached. "Lots of robot humans running around going 'I'll be back.'"

"Well, something like that." Donnie gave their brother an amused look. "But the theory there is machines that just look human. Bishop is going one step further, these, if he figures it out, will be part human. They won't be unfeeling machines like the terminators."

"Hey! The one in terminator 2 finally understood feelings." Donnie just glared at him. "Cyborgs then." Mikey amended.

"It must be nice to learn science from comic books and cheesy movies." Donnie sighed and Mikey just shrugged. "Anyway, he's going to mass produce this army of his, then evict the bots from our planet, by killing every one he can get his hands on and hoping the ones he doesn't decide to just leave."

"That idiot is going to start an all out war..." Vicky mumbled. "The Cons won't just up and leave, and the Bots just won't leave with them here, but both sides will fight to survive. How many lives will be lost in that struggle?"

"Bishop really doesn't care. As he sees it, most of humanity doesn't deserve to live anyway." Donnie reminded her. "But this is what gets me. He's obviously working with the Cons, that much is clear, he's the one that's been helping them gather the things they've been stealing, not to mention ratting out the old base. Why? If he is planning to wipe them out, why is he helping them now?"

"My guess is he's planning to double cross them at some point." Leo told him. "But it does seem like there are two objectives going on there."

"Oh, great..." Mikey moaned. "As if_ one_ end of the world scenario wasn't bad enough, now we gotta stop two?"

"And we still don't really know what the Cons are up to." Donnie added. "Getting info from Bishop is easy compared to them. Blaster and Jazz are still tearing apart the info I got from the base, but they still haven't found out anything yet about what they are doing exactly."

"Then let's focus on Bishop right now, until we can get more information." Leo told them. "At least we know what he is up too and can take steps to stop it." Two heads nodded in agreement, but the third didn't. Leo looked at Vicky as her face paled at the thought of going after him and his jaw clenched at what he was feeling from her. Fear. She was fighting it, but it was still there. He honestly wasn't sure if she could handle this.

"Hey Mikey!" Raph interrupted his thoughts as he walked over to them.

"What?"

"Caitlin is looking for you, bro."

"She is? She knows I'm here."

Leo noticed Raph was trying hard to hide a grin and he narrowed his eyes a little. "All I know is that she needs your help with something and asked me to come get you."

Without another word Mikey began walking towards the door. When he was out of earshot, Leo turned his attention to Raph. "What are you up too, Raph?" He flatly asked him.

"Nothing..." He replied with wide eyed, and over exaggerated, innocence.

Leo just sighed and began to leave the gym himself, but Raph caught his arm. "I'd wait if I were you..."

Before he could ask why, there was a clatter at the door as Mikey opened it, and got doused with some kind of powder. "What the hell!" The youngest exclaimed as he tried to brush it all off, then began to scratch, a lot. "You guys are so dead! Itching powder! Really!" There was the twin sounds of laughter coming from the hallway before Mikey took off running, chasing the now very obvious reason behind his current predicament.

Leo turned back to Raph who was laughing openly now. "So, you're on their side now?"

"Serves him right...I got dumped into a bug pit because of him."

"He didn't dig the hole."

"No, but he started this damn prank war."

Donnie was laughing himself now. "Do you know how hard it's going to be for him to get that all off? That stuff gets into everything. Especially the area around his shell."

"I know...and I'm going to enjoy every thought of him trying to wash it off..." Raph had a dreamy look on his face.


	27. Chapter 27

I sat on that bench again, watching what was going on in front of me with something mixed with gratitude and amusement. You ever watch a bunch of large robots put a playground together from stuff they found just lying around?

"I don't think that's supposed to go there." Jolt was saying to Sideswipe.

"It doesn't fit anywhere else!"

"It doesn't fit there either."

"It just needs some modifications." Hide rumbled in his deep voice, then brought out a cannon and literally blew a piece off, covering Sides with the shrapnel and scorching his plating more than a little. "See, it fits now."

"Hide!" Came the predictable protest. Sides looked at the remains of the part in his hands, as it fell apart and fell to the ground. "Hey look! I found stair pieces!"

Sides bent over to pick the pieces back up and thereby got missed by the large metal pipe Bee was trying to put into position as the top part of the swing frame. Jolt wasn't so quick to move and got smacked with it instead. "Watch it!" The blue bot glared at Bee who just shrugged apologetically.

"Will ya hold that fraggin' thin' still!" Jazz complained as he was trying to weld the frame together.

Mirage and Blaster brought over a finished play tower as the Arcee triplets were putting together swings. Skids and Mudflap had a job too, stay the fuck as far away as possible.

"What is going on out here?" Ratchet finally came out, grumbling. "How is a bot supposed to get any work done with all this noise?"

"Group project." Blaster grinned at him. "Making a play ground."

He just harumpft as he looked over what they were doing. "No no, no...you are doing it all wrong, if you weld it that way it won't be stable enough." He stomped over and snatched the welder from Jazz.

"Kind of like watching a large version of the three stooges." Cris said amused as she sat next to me.

"Isn't it?" I laughed as I shifted Lavi in my lap. The other children were playing at our feet, a very safe distance away from the circus going out in the field beyond. Dennis and Amy were sitting not far away, also laughing at them.

Sunny was standing nearby, seemingly bored with it all, but I caught occasional glimpse of him looking down at the lil ones. Then I happened to catch his watchful eye, and he shot me a wink. I just smiled slightly up at the current child protector. He made a big huff about not wanting to ruin his finish over such a silly project, but his current placement told me what he was really doing. He was easily close enough to snatch them from danger if he needed too.

"Looks like a construction site out here." Marina said as she and the others joined us, well all of them but Donnie. He was apparently still puzzling puzzles. Dante ran up to his mother and she easily swept him up in her arms.

I gave Mikey an amused look as he seemed a little red around the edges. I guess the shower didn't get all of the powder off. Mikey just glared up at Sunstreaker, who returned it with a wry smile.

"Maybe we should go lend a hand." Raph suggested as he watched the bots try and construct the obviously foreign to them idea.

"Ain't no way in hell I'm getting in the middle of that clusterfuck." Cris told him. As to emphasise her point, the previously finished play tower was knocked over as Bee tripped over it. Of course he wouldn't have tripped over it if Sides wouldn't have pushed him...

"Good point..."

"What brought all this on?" Caitlin asked curiously.

Cris just shrugged. "I have no idea, we came out here to find them already hard at work on it."

Just then we were interrupted by the sound of Prime pulling up, pulling his trailor. We hadn't seen him or Will and Epps since yesterday morning and I was curious about what they were up to.

Epps hopped out of the cab with a big cheese eating grin on his face and Will followed shortly after. "Hey guys!" Epps called to us. "You wanna come get this thing? We figured you might need it."

"Get what?" Mikey asked him.

"Come look." Will answered as Prime lowered the back of the trailer.

So we did. In the trailer there was a dirty, and obviously busted up turtle van. "You went back to get it?" Leo asked them. "Why?"

Will just shrugged. "Why not? It's yours and it got left behind. Didn't feel right with us, so we talked Prime into helping us go get it." He looked a little apologetic at it. "She got banged up a little though."

"A little?" Raph murmured. "It's going to take me and Donnie days to fix her back up."

"It would if you two did it by yourselves." Epps agreed. "But you're not going to do it by yourselves. Already got the mechanics ready to look over it to see what we are going to need."

"Well, might as well get started on it now." Raph said as he got into the trailer. "Nothing else to do right now anyway."

.

.

I don't know how long I laid there, tossing and turning, as I tried to sleep that night. I tried to tell myself it was because I had slept so much the day before, but I knew I was lying to myself. Truth was, I was lonely. So very lonely. I wanted nothing more than him to be here with me but I couldn't ignore the fact that I would be uncomfortable with it. Trust is a fickle thing. No matter how much you love someone, if the trust isn't there...

I sighed as I flipped over for the who knows how manyeth time. What would it take? How long would it take? Would he wait? What if he didn't? What if I'm so timid over it all that he decides to leave me again? Would he leave me again? If he did what would we do about the children? Gaaaaah...I flipped over onto my stomach and covered my head with the pillow, as if that would block out the thoughts running through my head. Why was I such a good damn think too much idiot? Why was I me?

The pillow came back off, felt like I was suffocating under there, and I flipped back onto my back before settling into a fetal position on my side. I'm a grown ass woman, you would think I could figure this shit out...nope, apparently when it came to relationships I was stuck on stupid. As long as everything was running smoothly, everything was fine, hit a little bump in the road and the whole damn car gets totalled...

I was just about to give up on sleep and get up, when there was a loud knock at the door. I had just enough time to prop myself up on an elbow before Mikey came barging in. "Vicky, wake up!" He almost shouted.

"I am awake you twit!"

"Oh," He lowered his voice "I know how hard it is for you to wake up, didn't realize you already were." He apologized for the racket.

"It's fine Mikey, couldn't sleep anyway. What up?"

"Cons are up, to no good. Leo sent me to come get you. We are rolling out in twenty."

"He...he wants me to go?"

Mikey just gave me a level gaze. "Why wouldn't he? He meant it when he apologized you know, and you are still a member of this family."

"I don't know, I just thought...maybe..."

"That he was lying and he really doesn't want you to go out with us anymore?"

I blushed a little. "When you put it that way, it kind of sounds stupid." I mumbled.

"Isn't it?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then get your backside up and get ready. Got seventeen minutes left!" He chirped and went out the door.

I just collapsed against the pillow for a minute, lost in my surprise. I had it firmly set in my head that he wouldn't want me to go anywhere, even though he assured me otherwise. To be honest, a part of me actually didn't want to go. That part I quickly squished as I scrambled out of bed. I was just too stubborn to listen to it.

.

.

I stumbled out of the building with a few minutes to spare, twisting the last few inches in my braid as I did. I was seriously thinking of whacking my waist length hair back by the time I joined the others. "I really wish you wouldn't." Leo murmured as he passed me from behind to go talk to Epps. Ok, maybe just a trim then...

I looked around to notice that most of the bots were rolling out for this one, there were parked all over the place. It took me a moment to weave my way through them all and slip into Hide's cabin, by now it wasn't even conscious thought any more. He was my ride if we went out. Huh, that makes it sound like we went on a date or something...went out...

"You think of the most absurd things sometimes." Hide told me amused as I settled in the passenger seat.

I just shrugged. "I'm an absurd kind of person."

"I've noticed."

Leo joined us not long long after and the call "Autobots, roll out!" came over the radio. That gave me chills. Never got to hear Prime say it in person before. Was kind of awesome in it's own way.

"So what's up?" I asked the two of them. "Mikey wasn't too specific. Pretty much just told me 'Wake your ass up! We are leaving.'"

"Heavy Con presence has been spotted south of here." Hide clued me in as he fell in behind Prowl.

I looked around at the mobil car lot. "Must be heavy indeed for this many to roll out." I muttered. "That can't be good."

"Never is with them."

I paused a moment. "Any idea who is all out there?"

They were both quiet for a few seconds, they both knew what I was thinking. "Unknown at this time. From all the the looks of the activity, it would probably be better to ask, who isn't there." Hide calmly told me.

I just sighed at that. I hoped Shockwave wouldn't be there, but more than likely he was. Wasn't too happy about that. Without realizing I was doing it, my hand sought out Leo's and held it tight. He looked at me a little shocked, but squeezed it once reassuringly. He didn't seem to mind that I still kept my hand there after that.

"Any idea what they are doing?"

"Causing trouble."

I rolled my eyes. "I know _that_ Hide. What kind of trouble?"

"Con trouble."

I let out an annoyed groan.

Leo let out a small chuckle. "We don't know for sure yet."

"So we are going in blind?"

"Pretty much."

"This should be fun." I mumbled.

"I hope it is." Hide spoke up. "I'd hate to have to make this trip for nothing."

I facepalmed.

.

.

I groaned a little as I got out. It was another of those long drives and I think my body was starting to protest them. I was used to short rides into the city, not these hours long road trips. I stretched out the best I could, with lots of popping and cracking going on.

"Good lord woman, you sound like a damn popcorn maker." Epps grinned at me.

"I feel like the popcorn in the popcorn maker."

I looked around a little at the surroundings we found ourselves in. We had driven quite aways south and ended up in a forested area. I was so thrilled about that...not.

"So, where are the big boogie men?" Cris asked as she joined us.

"Southeast from here." Jazz answered. "Latest satellite pic show 'em still floatin' aroun' out there."

"In that mess?" Casey asked pointing towards the heavily forested area. "How the hell did they managed that without knocking all of the trees over?"

"Very carefully I imagine." Leo answered him. "Still, that raises a good point." He looked up at Prime who had walked over. "May I make a suggestion?"

"Of course, you have more than earned the right."

"Not to be offensive here, but some of you are quite large to be crashing around in there."

"Uh oh." Casey mumbled. "I got a bad feeling he's about to volunteer us for something." Cris just elbowed him to shut up.

"They would hear you coming a mile away." Leo continued, ignoring Casey. "Would you guys be offended if we did the scouting for you?"

"It woul' make sense, Boss Bot." Jazz told Prime. "We can follow 'em 'round the edges as they zero in, then when they fin' them fraggers we can be on 'em in a flash."

"That's if the woods just happen to end like five feet away." Raph muttered.

"He's right." Leo said. "For all we know this side might be closer to them."

"So...what? You want us to sit on out afts here and wait?" Sides asked him.

"Basically, yes. If you guys start stomping around, you will be heard if not seen. We can find them, then guide you in the best way we can find."

"Why not rush them?"

"Because we still need to find out what they are up to. If you go sweeping through there like a damn tornado, they will know it and take steps. We might not get another chance at this."

"Pfft, you don't even know what they are doing in there."

"That is true, I don't know. But I have a hunch that if there as many out here as reported, they aren't here for a picnic."

"He's usually right." Raph told Sides. "As much as I hate to admit it, those gut feelings of his do ring true a lot of times."

"You listen to your internal organs used for digestion to plan attacks?" Prowl asked. "That just does not make sense..." Was he twitching?

"It's a saying among the humans!" Hide snapped him out of whatever seizure he was about to have. "Don't you dare glitch!"

"Did I miss something?" Raph asked confused to Cris who was trying to muffle a laugh.

"Prowl has a bad habit of, glitching as they put it, when shit doesn't make sense to him."

Raph just shook his head. "These guys just keep getting weirder and weirder."

She grinned at him. "They may be weird, but they sure are a helluva lot of fun."

Leo just shook his head before turning back to Prime. "It's up to you how to proceed here, but that is my recommendation."

"It will be of great risk to you." The leader answered. "But it does seem the best course of action right now. My Autobots are a little large for this task."

"I can send some guys with you." Will offered.

"No. They wouldn't be able to keep up." Leo declined. "And we are well aware of the risks, but the safety of innocents comes before our own."

"Spoken like a true warrior." Sides grinned at him.

"Spoken like an Autobot." Hide corrected with a grin of his own.

"Spoken like Leo." Raph corrected them both.

"Ok, so it's settle. Let get going." Casey said.

"Not you. You stay put."

"What? Why?"

"Because you move like a bumbling, blind ass elephant in the woods." Cris told him. "You have a hard enough time keeping quiet in a city environment. You make that kind of racket out there and you will get us blasted to smithereens."

"Hey! I've been out on woodsy stuff with you guys before!"

"Both of you hush." Leo snapped at them. "You are staying behind because I'm only sending two teams in, three individuals each. Vicky will be in one, and I'll be in the other. Mikey, Raph you go with her." He looked at Marina then. "I'm leaving you behind this time, Cris is better suited for this than you are, she's had more experience with it."

"Yay me." Cris muttered. "And I forgot the bug spray."

Marina just smiled at Cris before turning back to Leo. "It's fine. I didn't bring bug spray either."

"One more thing." Donnie said, then pulled out a small handheld gizmo and handed it to her. "Since Hide has my current receiver attached to him still, I had to throw this portable one together. Use it to keep tabs on us. That way when we give the shout you will know exactly where we are. Leo and Vicky can then guide Hide around any traps and other hazards."

"Anything we missed?" Leo asked.

"Not that I can think of." Donnie replied.

"Then lets move."


	28. Chapter 28

Dawn was slowly starting to light up the sky, not that anyone in the forest could tell at this point. The trees still effectively shuttered out that faint light as three shadows moved across the forest floor. They moved swiftly and silently through the thick forest, almost silently any way. Cris' slight grumbling as they moved was pretty much the only noise. But she had even learned to keep that to a very low tone so it really didn't bother Leo, too much.

Leo held up his hand and the two behind him stopped, then disappeared in the underbrush as Leo himself went to the trees above. Something had caught his attention, and he seriously doubted it was a deer. Deer didn't set his internal alarms blaring like they were now. He was rewarded for his caution when a few moments later a drone came stomping through the woods. It didn't look like it could move among all the close knit trees very well and was having more than a little trouble with them.

"Well, that confirms it, they are here." Donnie mumbled when Leo dropped back down after the thing had passed.

"Follow it." Was all that Leo said. "It's going in the direction we need."

They did that, with Cris eyeballing Leo suspiciously as they moved. Finally after a few minutes of him ignoring her, because he thought he knew what was on her mind, she spoke up. "You didn't seem too surprised to see that thing on this side of the forest."

Leo sighed, he should have guessed Cris would catch on. "I'm not." He answered her truthfully. "Jazz showed me one of the satellite images before we rolled out. There is a large clearing in this area, more than enough room for them to move around in."

"Careless for them to not think of that." Donnie's voice was tinged with a hint of curiosity. "You would think with them supposedly being as knowledgeable as they are said to be, they should know about the eyes in the sky."

"I'm sure they are very well aware of what is up there." Leo told his brother. "And I am also sure they have taken steps to keep us away."

"Might explain the drone patrol." Cris agreed. "But doesn't explain why you split us up into three groups." She eyeballed him again. "And I'm curious to know why you did."

Leo stopped and stared her down, a stare she wasn't responding to at all as anger started to fill her eyes. "We don't have time for this, Cris."

"Then you better talk fast." Cris snapped at him. "I want to know what the hell you are up to. The others could have easily came with us, yet you choose to send them in the other direction and leave Marina and Casey behind. Why?" Leo didn't answer her, but he couldn't avoid her searching eyes as she studied him. "It's about Vicky, isn't it?"

Leo knew Cris well enough to know she wouldn't back down on this, if they were going to get anywhere he had to tell her. "Yes, it is."

"What's your game Leo?" Her eyes narrowed at him. "You better not hurt her...If this is some fucked up attempt to push her away again, I'll beat the shit out of you right the fuck now!"

"She isn't ready!" Leo snapped at her in return. Cris' words had hit him hard and it seemed Vicky wasn't the only one with the fear of him hurting her again. He took a moment to collect himself, and shield his thoughts a little. This was something Vicky didn't need to know about, not yet. "She is not ready to face them Cris. She's terrified of Shockwave, and Bishop, to the point that the fear is interfering with her capabilities."

"So, you sent her the other direction? Why not just have her stay back with the others?"

"Because if I would have done that, she would have viewed it as me doing exactly what you just threatened me to not to do. I can't ask her to stay behind. And I had to leave Casey and Marina back so she wouldn't get suspicious of me splitting the team in two. If I split us all up, it wouldn't seem so odd that I sent her one way with Raph and Mikey while the rest of us went after the Cons." Leo shook his head a little. "Please, Cris, try to understand. I'm not doing this to push her away, I'm doing this so she can slowly build her confidence back up."

Again Cris studied him as she thought that over. "In you, or in herself?"

"Both." Leo said simply. "Cris, I screwed up. I know that. I have had numerous individuals beat me upside the head with it. But all of you are only seeing what happened on the outside, there is still so much confusion, fear and loss of trust..." He closed his eyes and took a breath to steady himself, that loss of trust stung him more than he would admit to anyone. "Her mind isn't clear right now. Believe me when I tell you I have no intention of putting her through that again, even if it means letting her go out in that condition, but I also will not allow her to get hurt because of the doubts and fears I caused. I gave her a part to play so she won't feel like I am trying to keep her away, but it's a part with a smaller risk."

"You are walking a fine line here Leo. Even though her side may not see much activity, there still may be Cons about." Cris told him then. "But I understand what you are doing. I'm assuming the placement of Raph and Mikey in her party was intentional?"

Leo just nodded. "If anyone can keep her thoughts somewhat on task, it's those two. And I'm hoping the Con that bothers her the most isn't on her side of the forest."

Donnie let out a slight chuckle. "Their bickering is enough to keep anyone's mind occupied."

"That's the god honest truth." Cris rolled her eyes before settling them back onto Leo. "Just out of curiosity, what are you going to do if she can't get her brain unscrambled?"

"Then I'll do it another way. She will heal from this, one way or another. Even if I have to drag her in front of her fears and make her face them."

"Leo, don't do anything stupid." Cris warned him. "It won't help her if you get yourself killed trying to prove something to her."

He smiled a small sad smile at that. "Cris, it's my stupidity that got her into this mess, it might be the only way to get her out of it."

She just sighed before turning to follow the still bumbling along drone and Leo didn't say anything else on the subject himself. If he was completely honest with himself he wasn't sure what it would take to get the old Vicky back, but he was more than willing to do it.

.

.

"Mikey do you have to step on every god damn dead branch out here?" Raph hissed at his younger brother.

"Not my fault they keep moving under my feet!"

"Not my fault you're an idiot, but yet I refrain from beating the shit out of you!"

I was seriously getting frustrated with these two. What in the hell was Leo thinking pairing me up with these two dipshits? "Will you both just shut up!" I snapped quietly at them. "We are supposed to find the Cons, not make a whole bunch of racket so they can find us!"

"He started it." Mikey mumbled.

I threw a branch at him, which of course he nimbly dodged.

Getting my irritation under control, because I was about to beat the shit out of both of them, I just turned and walked along the course we had been following. As I went, some not so nice things were being muttered out of my mouth.

Of course these two kept at it, spitting insults and jokes at each other like a pair of arguing tomcats. You thought that racket was annoying, try putting up with these two. I could handle a team up with either at one time, but both of them were driving me nuts.

I just resigned myself to my fate, half wondering if Leo was trying to punish me for something, and ignored them the best I could. That one was being suspiciously quiet himself. The bond was open, he just hasn't been very talkative. But to be honest, he hasn't been in my head as much as he used to be. My mind wandered to that as we walked and I couldn't help but wonder if it was because of me ...having issues...right now. Maybe it was because he didn't want to crowd me? Or was it because he was trying to figure out things himself? I didn't know, but it added to me missing him so much more. At least he isn't completely shutting me out anymore. As usual when I thought about that, I reached out to touch that quiet area in my head and was quickly rewarded with his reassuring presence. he was still there, patiently waiting for me. But waiting for what I was finding myself questioning. And I really even didn't know the question, much less the answer.

"Hey!" Mikey nudged me. "Watch where you're going, you're wandering off course."

I blushed as I brought my mind back where it was supposed to be. "Sorry, had my heads in the clouds there for a minute."

"In the clouds? Or in Leo's head." Mikey smiled back at me. Raph just watched me quietly as we kept moving along.

"Ok, you caught me." I mumbled with a small smile of my own. "I was trying to spy on Leo."

"Interesting choice of words." Mikey said quietly. "To spy implies you don't trust him."

"Mikey...don't make me brick your mouth shut." Raph warned him.

"What? I'm just sayin-"

"Mikey!"

I sighed as Mikey rolled his eyes at his older brother. "Dude, chill. I just wanted to ask her something."

"Something involving her and Leo, right?"

"Yeah."

"What Mikey?" I knew if I didn't let him ask, he would keep pestering, and keep getting on Raph's nerves.

"Well, it's just that I was curious about something." He looked at me curiously. For once there was no trace of his usual silliness on his features. "I can't imagine what it's like being in each other's heads like that." He started. "But I did hear you two talking enough about it, and asked Leo some things back when you two first started this mind magic trick."

I gave him an indulgent smile. Mikey had always been a curious turtle, in my opinion it added to his charm. He had this childlike innocence about him, a willingness to learn. When he wasn't being a pain in the ass, I actually enjoyed some of these question/answer sessions with him. "And? What has your curiosity found out?"

"Besides the fact I'm jealous over it?" He grinned that boyish grin of his.

"Get to the point, you." Raph growled at him.

Mikey looked thoughtful a moment as we walked, dodging around trees and bushes. "Well, I know you said before you're not good at meditation and all that Leoish relaxing mojo."

I just nodded. "True enough. I never could get the hang of it."

"I can understand Leo being able to do weird crap with his mind, he's the only one of us that actually took an interest in it when Father tried to teach us. But I've always wondered, how come_ you_ can do it?"

"I...I really don't know Mikey." I answered. "I never could understand it myself."

He just nodded, again lost in thought. "I figured as much."

Now I was looking at him curiously, and to be honest so was Raph. "What are you getting at Mikey." I finally asked the thinking turtle. (scary thought, I know)

He rubbed his jaw a little, taking the time to fit his thoughts into words. "Maybe...maybe it isn't mind training that lets you to reach out to him. Maybe it's just something simple, but strong enough to let you go floating off into his brain when ever you feel like it."

"Like what?" This from Raph of all folks...

"Like, just plain ol' love. And trust, I remember him telling me you have to trust the other person completely for it to work."

"Yes, we had the same discussion over it when we first tried to see if I could do it." I recalled.

"But yet, Leo feels in you that the trust isn't there, at least not at the same level it used to be."

"He told you that?" I asked him stunned.

"Only because he was trying to explain to me why...why he couldn't help you. He felt you didn't trust him." He looked at my shocked face. "He only told me because I was worried about you, Vicky, not because he likes blabbering what happens between you two around and he was being honest with me."

"Fuck, he didn't have to tell Mikey. We can all see it. There is still something there between you two you haven't quite figured out yet." Raph spoke up.

"Anyway, this is what has me stumped. I know you love him, but, if the trust you have for him isn't there as he seems to think, why can you two still mind talk?" Mikey paused before he added "Maybe it isn't him you don't trust..."

I froze, literally just stopped in my tracks when he said that. My eyes wide as I took in what he said. Then I teared up when I suddenly realized...he was right. It wasn't Leo, it was me. I didn't trust myself. I didn't trust my actions, my feelings anything. I was right back where I found myself when my ex-husband left. Not trusting myself to feel, love, fight...not trusting myself to be happy... It's not that I didn't trust Leo, I didn't trust myself to let him near and took it out on him. Tried to tell myself it was him, when the whole time I was the one I wasn't comfortable with. "Damn it..." I whispered out into the early morning air, the first tear rolling down my face.

"Oh, good job, shit for brains." Raph snapped at Mikey as he spun me towards him. "Vicky, get a hold of yourself, now is_ not_ the time to fall to pieces!"

"Leo, I...I have to..." I was seriously struggling with myself at that moment. Once Mikey had pointed out the obvious flaw in my thinking all I could think about was making this right between us, not just halfassed, but fully.

"You have to wait!" Raph growled out at me. "We are all out here, in woods infested with Cons and having this discussion right now isn't the best idea!"

"Raph..." Another tear fell as I tried to get myself under control. He was right, I knew he was, but it still was an effort.

"Look, Leo loves you and wants things to be back the way they were with you two just as bad as you do. But blurting this out to him now, verbally or in his head, will do more harm than good. He will understand if you wait to tell him."

"He's right." Mikey added. "I guess I shoulda kept my trap shut, but we all know that's not my strong point."

"I should slap you." Raph told him with a glare.

It was the rustling in he trees that snapped me out of my emotional turmoil as Raph dragged be back into deeper vegetation. Mikey dove in right behind us and together we waited. Well, they waited, I just went through a wrestling match with my emotions. I wiped my eyes and cleared my head, for the most part, to see something stomp around out there. It took my tear blurred eyes a minute to pick out what it was, or should I say who. "Starscream? Again?" I barely breathed.

Raph just placed his hand over my mouth as the Con stumbled by in the dense forest, his muttering voice becoming clear as he came closer. "...forced to walk in this slagheap of disgusting earth filth. I am the commander of the Decepticon forces, not some messenger drone! But yet here I am, once again wasting my talents, as usual. Why, if I were leader I would certainly have a better plan than this, one that didn't involve getting earth grime stuck into my pedes. I would show them all what true leadership is! I would..." His voice faded back out as he moved further away.

Raph let his hand slip from my mouth as the Con moved further away. "You good?"

I just nodded, once again in control. As long as I didn't think too much anyway.

Raph then moved out, still as death, and Mikey and I followed him. I didn't have time to think about Leo and I anymore, had something else to focus my mind on. Namely trying to be quiet so Screamer wouldn't hear us, and to see what in the hell he was doing out here.


	29. Chapter 29

_'Leo?'_ I sent the thought tentatively out, not even sure really if he would respond. He has been so quiet lately, I kinda half expected him not too.

_'Yes, dear one?'_ Came right back at me. So much for that worry...

_'We found Starscream.'_ I told him, even as Raph held an arm out to stop us while he peeked around a tree. I peeked around with him and sure enough, Doritohead was still marching along in front of us. Quietly we began to follow him again.

_'What?'_ Why did he sound so surprised? It was what we were doing out here after all, looking for Cons. _'Where?'_

_'About two miles southwest of your line of travel. He seems to be moving away from your area.'_

_'Interesting...'_

_'Mind telling me what is so interesting about it?'_

_'We caught sight of a drone, and are following it in the opposite direction.'_

_'And you didn't tell me this why?'_

_'Because we aren't sure if it's just patrolling a perimeter, or if it's actually going back to a central location. Wasn't going to call the cavalry over one drone.'_ I just rolled my eyes, and felt his amusement over that reaction. _'It seems that there might be more out here than just one set up.'_

**-It does appear that way. I will inform Prime of this ****development****. We may have to split our forces accordingly._\- _**Oh, hey Hide...where have you been the last hour? **-Trying not to loose my patience with your wandering thought process. Those rambling random thoughts of yours is making it hard to focus on what is going on.-**

_'Sorry.' _I mumbled_._

**-Don't be sorry, just stop doing it!-**

_'Keep following him, and we will see what needs to be done once we_ know_ more._' Leo cut in. Then there was a moment of silence._ 'Are you ok?'_ He asked then suddenly, there was a hint of worry this time. _'You seemed upset earlier.'_ He added a little hesitantly. I knew he could very well go in further to find out exactly what was wrong, but he didn't trust himself to do that. Probably out of fear I wouldn't want him in that far yet. God this was a mess...

_'I'm...I'm ok.'_ Now his doubt kicked in. Trying to tell someone you were just fine and dandy while he can feel you are not was a hard thing to pull off, harder still when it was Leo you were dealing with. He didn't need to be in my head to figure out something was bothering me. I could tell he wanted so very much to pry more, to find out what really was going on. But Raph was right, now wasn't the time. _'Please Leo, we'll talk later, I promise. I...I love you.'_

_'And I love you dear heart.' _Then he was gone. Dear heart...it had been awhile since he called me that. I guess that was his way of letting me know I was still dear to his heart, even if I was a messed up mess.

I took a long shuddering breath in, that had been so hard. I wanted nothing more than to talk to him, tell him everything but I couldn't. What a hell of a time to come to certain revelations...damn Mikey...

"You were talking to Leo weren't you?" Raph asked me without even turning.

"Yeah, only to tell him what's going on."

"Going on here? Or in your head?"

"Now who needs his mouth bricked shut?" Mikey muttered from behind me.

"Oh for crying out loud you two!" I snapped. "I know my head is fucked up right now! Do you really have to keep rubbing it in?"

"Sorry." They both mumbled. Huh, they sounded like I did when Hide yelled at me...

I just glared at them before continuing on my way. Meddling munchheads... Still, they meant well, I was more irritated with myself than them.

We kept following the Con for about another fifteen minutes or so before he finally slipped out of our sight behind a thick cluster of trees and bushes. We didn't directly follow him through that but quickly made our way around to the left of it. We pushed our way quietly through the lesser vegetation in this area and peered out into the very small clearing beyond.

"You have got to be shitting me..." Raph mumbled in shock.

"If they are you, then they are all of us." Mikey replied quietly.

I was just crouching there in opened mouthed shock. We had stumbled into what looked like some kind of out door prisoner holding area. The small clearing was full with a decent sized cage, and it was full of humans of all sizes, ages and race. We had a huge problem on our hands here. And to make matters worse, they weren't exactly unguarded. There were a few drones, plus one other, the being who made my blood freeze and I began to tremble as I set my eyes on him again. Shockwave...

"Vic!" Raph hissed in my ear, very quietly. "Snap out of it!"

I couldn't take my eyes off of the evil thing in front of me, until Raph made me by spinning me to face him. "Raph...I...I can't...I can't...do this..."

Raph looked at me with a mix of sympathy and frustration, his amber eyes searching my face before looking me right in mine. "Vic, please." He told me quietly. "I know you are dealing with a lot of shit right now but I need you to keep it together. You are the only one who can keep in touch with both Leo and Hide. We are stranded out here if you can't function."

I struggled, lord did I struggle. I was so tired of being afraid...so tired of trying to help and finding out I've done nothing but be a burden with my insecurities. But I couldn't help it. I kept my gaze on Raph as I fought with myself, what would it take for me to finally put my fears to rest? To be able to get past this? To be me again? Leo had been right, I held onto those fears like some kind of sick security blanket, not knowing how to let them go. And I had snapped on him because of it, which resulted in this current mess I found myself in with him. "Raph, I don't know how to let it go." I quietly confessed to him.

"You know, in a way, I think Leo was right." He told me calmly. "This is obviously seriously messing with you. And I have to admit, I'm starting to wonder if you should even be out here. But it's too late to go back now." He turned me to face the scared humans in the large cage. "They don't have the time for you to figure it out anymore."

I looked on, trembling in my own fear, as Shockwave moved towards the large cage after speaking to Starscream. We had missed the conversation between them while I was wallowing in my own feelings.

Mikey however didn't. "Guys, we gotta do something! Now!" He whispered urgently. "Chip head over there told one eye that the machine is ready...what ever that means. And I guess those guys in the cage are going to be the first ones to figure it out."

It was the wails of terror that snapped me out of my daze. Raph once again was right, they didn't have time for me to figure it out. Even as I watched on as Shockwave began to adjust the cage for movement, I pushed my fears out of the way after an enormous mental struggle with myself and reached out. _'Guys! They have human captives! We have eyes on them right now but they are about to be moved to another location. Probably towards Leo's side of the forest.'_

**-Understood. We are moving a group in.-**

_'Careful Hide, the forest is pretty tight here. But there is a small stream bed on the north side of the small clearing we are at. If you follow that in, it should give you room to move without crashing around too much.'_

There was a few moments of silence before he responded. **-Confirmed. Jazz has found it, he will be bringing Bumblebee and the triplets with him. They are small enough to pass.-**

_'Shadow them dear one. Do not engage.' _Leo quietly added. _'Not until the bots get closer. Hide, we found what they have set up out here. Bring in everyone else in the west side. The forest isn't as thick there.'_

**-What are the defenses on both groups?-**

_'About fifteen Cons and drones here.' _Leo answered him. _'Not to many compared to what the intelligence suggested may be out here. But one of them is Megatron himself, along with Soundwave.'_

_'About five drones here, Screamer and...and Shockwave...' _A slight tremor found it's way in, I couldn't help it. I just hoped they were to preoccupied to catch on.

Raph had been watching me as I stood there quietly, his quick eyes taking in the quick change in my demeanor. "You ok now?"

"No." I answered truthfully as I got myself together. "But I'm not going to let harm come to them because I can't figure shit out."

Raph placed a hand on my shoulder in quiet support for a moment, then led the way back into the forest.

.

.

"What is that thing Donnie?" Leo asked his brother who was crouched next to him on the tree branch. Cris was on his other side next to the trunk, holding on for dear life. She still really didn't care for heights to much, but the vegetation was pretty sparse below to hide in.

"I'm not entirely certain." Came the answer as they looked the large contraption over. Well, it looked large to him, seemed pretty normal next to that big hunk of clunk. Megatron.

"I can't believe I'm so close to that him." Cris mumbled quietly. "Kinda know how Vicky feels now. Dude is scary up close."

That of course brought his mind to hers. Cursing himself he remembered feeling her fluctuating emotions, his one fear of today had happened and he was regretting all kinds of recent choices again. He closed his eyes a moment before bringing his own thoughts back to where they needed to be. He had to trust in Raph to watch out for her. As much as he wanted to just jump out of this tree and rush to her, he couldn't.

"Leo?" Donnie was looking at him with mild concern, obviously wondering why his unheard question was going unanswered.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly as he brought his attention back towards his brother.

Donnie, and now Cris, we still watching him closely but didn't comment on his distracted mind. "What's the plan?"

Leo frowned in thought a moment. "Keep trying to figure out what that thing does, and find a way to disable it. Raph's team says they have humans, and are bringing them here. The Bots are already closing in themselves. But just incase, I don't want this thing used if they get here first."

Donnie nodded quietly, still eyeing him. "I'll see what I can do." He began to work again, obviously trying to be careful not to tip Soundwave off. Leo knew that because his brother's mumbling over the hassel clued him in on the fact.

Leo himself found his mind wandering again. This was so unlike him, but for once he couldn't help himself. His worry reached deeper than the current predicament they found themselves in. Fact was, he had an unstable team member out there and he was seriously trying very hard to justify letting her come. He knew deep down that any attempt on his part to try and make her stay back would have drove another wedge in between them, and the one there was already hard enough to deal with. If he were completely honest with himself, he didn't know what the right thing to do was anymore and that bothered him. There had been a time when he wouldn't think twice about it, had even encouraged her when his eyes had been opened to the fact that she could handle herself. Now it seemed she couldn't and he had to pretend as if she could.

Leo rubbed his aching head, this was all starting to get to him. Never had he felt so confused and he didn't like it. Before he had some idea on what to do, now he really didn't. He wanted so much to fully get inside her head, to pick it apart and rip out all her fears and worries but wasn't sure even if he would be wanted there. He could feel her tentative touches, trying to reassure herself that he was still indeed there but the open invitation to go into hers really wasn't there. He let out a sigh, so much had been damaged in a few moments. With a few words something wonderful had been cracked and scarred.

It was no surprise then really when the normally very alert Leo completely missed the fact that they had been spotted. The only clue he had was when Laserbeak came swooping in and hovered right in front of them. They looked at the flying robot in stunned shock for a quick instant before Leo grabbed Cris and dodged out of the tree with Donnie right behind. They had just hit the ground when the ruins of the branch above them came tumbling down as the beast fired a shot they had just managed to dodge.

Now they larger robots had their red eyes set on the intruders and began to move in. Leo didn't even think, he took Cris and shoved her into Donnie's arms. "Get her out of here! I'll distract them!"

"What! Are you crazy!" Cris yelled at him as Donnie began to drag her away. "You can't expect us to just leave you here!"

"I can and I do!" Leo snapped at her. "Regroup with the others and get those humans free!"

SHe was going to protest again when a round blasted in between them, sending them flying one way and Leo in another. When the leader stumbled back to his feet they were out of sight, but Cris continued yelling quickly assured him they were on the move themselves. Soon even that grew quiet as Leo slipped into another tree. He had to distract them, there really wasn't any cover here besides the trees.

Taking to the branches Leo used that highway to quickly follow the drones following his family members and leapt onto the one in the lead. Slamming a katana into the thing's eye as he maneuvered his way from one shoulder to the other so fast it couldn't keep up.

He easily dodged the clumsy hand and lept onto the one behind it as it turned to follow him, weapon raised. The stupid thing fired before it took in exactly what it was about to hit and the second drone sprouted a hole in it's chest area even as Leo quickly scrambled down it, fiery pieces of metal accompanying him on the way down.

He hit the ground and quickly got out of the way of the falling pile of scrap as it fell. Scrambling now to get out of the way of a massive foot that was coming down for him, Leo dodged behind another tree fully intending to go back up. That Idea however was shot to shit, literally, as another round hit the thing as he was halfway up it. The tree snapped in half under him and not even his quick speed was enough to get him clear of the tree as it fell on top of him. He hit the ground hard and the tree hit him harder still as it effectively pinned him to the ground. He took most of the brunt of the impact on his shell, but was still more than a little dazed from it. He had hit his head hard and the world was spinning around him. He couldn't even focus enough to try and get free. The last thing he remembered was a foot slamming into the ground in front of him before he blacked out.

***Author's note: Hey readers. I have a problem (no I'm not going to quit writing. I may get a bit busy sometimes but the chapters will still keep coming if I have the time) I got this great idea...well great to me anyway...about wanting to put together a video with the whole Leo/Vicky breakup thing. Here is my problem. First I need some Pics. PM me and I'll give you an idea of what I'm looking for. Second, someone who knows how to put it all together in a video. This is all new to me, but I have a song that fits perfectly. This is really not wanting to leave my mind and I've been pestering everyone I know to help me out. Anyone have an interest on doing this with me will get credited for it. Again, please PM me if you are interested.**


	30. Chapter 30

For once it was silent as we shadowed the group. With the cover of darkness now gone we had to use every advantage, that included keeping our flaptraps shut. Even Mikey wasn't joking around but that didn't mean he wasn't goofing around. Right now the idiot was practicing his squirrel moves as he just finished a triple somersault up in the trees above us. Raph just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

I was hardly paying attention to him as I had a very detailed conversation going on in my head with Hide at the moment, trying to guide Jazz's team towards us. They came across a branch in the creek bed they were following and for once our luck was good as it seemed to lead in our general direction.

Leo by now had gone pretty much silent and I assumed that it was because he didn't want to interrupt the conversation. He had his own backup he needed to coordinate with, but he knew this was the bigger deal. These poor folks couldn't help themselves the way we could. As it was they were going to need a shitload of therapy to get over this.

**-They are almost at your position.-** Hide interrupted my wandering thoughts again just as I caught the familiar outline of Marina making her way up a tree on the other side of the group we were following. I guess she decided to come along for the fun.

I nudged Raph and pointed and he nodded in reply as he saw the stealthy female as she was obviously setting herself up for something.

"What's the situation?" Elita asked quietly from behind us as she also moved in.

"So far, nothing exciting." I answered her. "Just dragging them through the woods."

"They won't be doing that much longer." She grimly replied. "The others are almost in position."

"What's the plan?" Raph asked her.

"My sisters and I along with Bee will distract them while Jazz takes on the cage. Your human friends will then guide the captives to safety while we hold them off."

"So what do we get to do?" Mikey asked.

"Optimus wants you to stay out of sight. It's bad enough that our existence is now known to this group, he doesn't want your's to be known as well."

"You just expect us to just sit back while you send our family out there?" Raph flustered at her.

"No." She looked at him amused. "I just said to stay out of sight." She smiled at the evil grin that came to his lips.

"Well now...that part I can agree with."

"Go, hurry. I can't tell you where you will do the most good. You know that better than I do. I will instruct Vicky on her course of action."

The two males just gave her a quick nod, then slipped into the forest. Leaving me standing there alone with the female Autobot. "So what do I get to do? Go one on one with Starscream?"

"Only if you have a death wish." She candidly replied. "Circle around to where your companion is waiting in the trees. Jazz will be coming that way shortly after we start the attack. You and her will then take over their care until you meet up with Lennox further back. Once they are safe you are free to return and indulge yourself with the Con if you wish."

"Um...no. I think I will retract my previous statement." I sighed. Elita was just a tad more formal than her sisters, and apparently didn't get jokes like they did. Well, not in combat situations anyway.

I quietly slipped around to the tree I spotted Marina in and reached it just as she gracefully came down. I mumbled to myself some unpleasant things about the last time I tried to get down from a tree on my own, faceplanting every branch on the way down...

She softly hit the ground just as I reached the base of it. "Where's Jazz?" I whispered to her.

"Back in the under brush a bit. His shield still isn't working right, Mirage hasn't been able to help Ratchet with it yet so he's staying out of sight the best he can."

Well, at least he was close. Didn't feel like trying to do this on my own. My luck I would get stepped on or something.

We didn't have to wait long, not long at all. Just a few seconds after our brief exchange, the rear end of the group started sprouting small explosions as the Autobots started the ambush. And of course you know what screamer did right? Yup...turned tail and ran. Which of course added to the confusion as he was pushing the drones out of his way as they tried to return fire. Idiot.

"C'mon ladies! It's show time!" Jazz told us as he quickly stomped by, careful where he was stomping. Marina and I quickly followed him out of the trees and race up to the cage.

Jazz quickly tacked the lock that was well out of our reach as the folks inside looked up at him in horror. Couldn't really blame them, right now I'm sure they all thought that every single one of these walking tinheaps were out to get them. Shit, they didn't know the difference. More than one of them had a stupefeid look on their face as the cage swung open though. But not a single one of them moved.

"Well come on!" Marina snapped at them. "Unless you want to stay here and find out what they were wanting to do with you, I'd advise you to get your asses moving!"

I winced a little at that. Marina had changed a lot since she joined us, wasn't so quick to anger as she used to be and a more softer side was showing itself to be her dominant one. She was almost as caring as Caitlin, until you annoyed her. Then that woman would rip the skin off of you with her tongue. "_Move_ I said!" She snapped at them again.

This time they did as they were told and began to emerge out of the contraption that had held them captive, eyeballing Jazz as if he were going to rip their heads off or something. Marina and I didn't give them that time to gawk. We weren't exactly nice about it as we shoved them towards the trees. We still weren't quick enough as Jazz spun around to shield us from the incoming baddie bots. He took a hit even as he opened fire and the forest floor shook a little as he was thrown down from that impact. "Go!" Marina screeched at our charges as the drones stalked in. We picked up speed, but it was pretty obvious we weren't going to make it.

Until Raph and Mikey made their appearance anyway. I do have to admit the guys were getting good at taking down those clumsy things. All of them learned fairly quickly to go for the eyes since their smaller size didn't leave them very many other options on the large bots. And that's exactly what they did again as Raph landed on one, plunging his sai deep into that red orb. He ignored the sparks shooting around him as he swiftly went for the other one and repeated the process. Mikey didn't have a sharp weapon to maim them with, so he just used his foot. Kicking the thing repeatedly with such speed and force that it eventually gave in under that assault. Once they were blinded it was pretty easy for Jazz to finish them off as he picked himself up off of the ground while the turtles themselves moved on to other targets.

We made it back to the treeline and I paused a moment to look behind me at the ongoing battle. I really started to wish I didn't as I noticed Shockwave stomping my way. Not sure if he was after me personally or going after his lost pets, but I was too frozen in fear to figure it out. His single eye stared me down as he moved closer. "You again. You cost me my test subjects, so you will just have to do as a replacement. Believe me when I tell you, you will wish that I had the opportunity before to kill you."

I should run, I knew I should be hauling ass through those trees like a damn deer being chased by rabid wolves, but I couldn't budge. I had froze up again. All I could do was look on as he came closer. "And I shall enjoy dealing with your meddling personally."

My mind was screaming at me, by now Hide was screaming at me, everyone around me was screaming at me, the only one who wasn't was Leo. The one who should be yelling at me to move the most, was the one who was quiet. He should know, feel, _some_thing... And it wasn't like him to remain quiet about it if he did. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. And that's what snapped me out of my daze as the hand had almost reached me.

I glared up at that single eye before I easily did a backflip, slipping away from the fingers that had almost closed around me, then giving him a good kick on one of his metal digits as I landed. Then I turned and ran, not towards where Marina was leading the others to Lennox, but towards the area I knew Leo was supposed to be at.

"God damn it, Vicky!" I heard Raph yell behind me. "Where in the hell are you going!?"

"Where I was supposed to be all along!" Was all I replied as I ran on.

"Dude...she's going after Leo." Mikey told his brother.

"Just cover her so she can get away!" Came the angry reply. "We'll figure out where she went later!'

This time I didn't turn back to look as they were obviously taking the fight to Shockwave. I ran. Faster than than I have ever pushed myself before. The only thing I registered was that feeling that something wasn't right. I called out to him, and felt nothing which worried me even more. I easily dodged around the trees and bushes, jumping over some, in my haste to get to him. That nagging feeling pushing me on.

I flew over a ravine that came across my way, one that was large enough I shouldn't have made it, but I hit the ground in a roll on the other side. I scrambled back to my fet and pushed on again, not slowing, not feeling my body protesting the way I was pushing it. I knew, some how deep down I knew, that he needed me. Growling, I pushed away the mounting protests my body was trying to make, ignored the ache in my chest from how hard I was trying to breath to keep up this pace. Nothing mattered to me at that moment, nothing but getting to him.

A large tree, easily as tall as Raph if not taller, blocked my way and I cleared it with ease. Landing on the other side in a crouch with one hand down to steady me before I was on my feet again. Before I could charge off, Donnie made his appearance with Cris in tow. Both of them looking at me in astonishment. I quickly took in their slightly battered condition, Cris especially was dirty and and had leaves and other small forest debris in her hair.

"What happened?" I snapped at them.

"Your boy yanked me out of a tree! That's what!" She snipped back at me.

"We were spotted." Donnie clarified in a calmer tone. "We were scouting out the clearing and-"

"Where is he!" I almost screamed as I cut him off. He blinked a little at my tone, one I had never used with any of them before.

"He stayed behind to lead them away. He wanted us to regroup with you."

Which meant in Leo terms, there were to many and he was going to buy them as much time as he could to get away before he got caught...or killed. Damn it! Not now! Why did this have to happen now!? So many things I still had to tell him, so many things to make right...so many... "Find him." I snarled at Donnie, trying, and failing, to keep my fear and anger in check.

"I didn't have time to look, was trying to get back-"

"Use your god damn magical backpack and find him!" This time I did scream.

Both of them just stared at me. What? Were they hard of hearing now? "Find him!" I screamed again.

**-Stop it! This isn't doing any good!- **Hide roared in my head.

_'You shut the hell up! I didn't ask you!' _I snipped back at him

"Vicky, I can't." Donnie replied. "He didn't have a tracker with him. And no phone either."

"Why in the hell not!" I fumed.

"Because we didn't want the signals to be traced!" He finally lost his temper with my temper. "Just because your rings are on an untraceable signal doesn't mean I had the time to adjust every piece of equipment we had! We weren't expecting this to happen!"

"It's your job to expect the unexpected!" I flared right back at him, shaking in fear and anger.

"Vicky, I'm sorry..." He reached out a hand to me and I slapped it away, tears burning in my eyes.

"Donnie, I can't feel him. It's like he isn't there. And if none of you want to help me find out what happened to him then I'll do it on my own!"

"Oh Jesus." Cris sighed. "She's just as bad when he's in trouble as he is when she's in trouble."

I trembled in anger as I watched them a moment. Then I spun and kept going the direction I was traveling in before. "Vicky!" This time it was Donnie trying to call me back. I ignored him just like I did Raph earlier.

I don't know how far I had ran like that. I knew the general area on where to go, but my land nav skills never were the best. All I knew for sure was I had to find him. _'Hide!'_ I called out. _'How far away from that clearing are you?'_

He was quiet a moment before he answered. And that slight pause told me more than I really wanted. **-We are already here, and he is not. The Cons, the machine and Leonardo are all missing.-**

"No..." I whispered as I stopped again. "No...God, please, no!" My tired body couldn't take anymore and I collapsed to the forest floor. "Leo..."

I knelt there for awhile, trying to get myself under control again. Now I knew how he felt every time something happened to me. Helpless, angry that it happened, fear for him, guilt that I couldn't do anything. Now I knew how much my one simple remark had stung him so deeply.

The sounds of footsteps came across the forest, large ones. And from behind me came the sounds of motorcycle engines. Was more than likely the bots, but at that point I really didn't care who it was.

Hide emerged from the forest just as the Arcee triplets came up from behind, with Cris and Marina riding two of them. "God damn it Vicky!" Cris snapped at me as she climbed off of Arcee. "Don't make me fucking tranq your ass like we do his!"

Marina nudged her as she took in my grief stricken face. "You would do the same thing if it were Raph."

Cris glared at her for a moment, then sighed. "Yeah...I probably would."

I hardly paid any of them any mind as I knelt there, trying desperately to reach him, feel him...something...

"Great...we are missing one, and have another unable to function." Cris muttered. "Now what do we do?"

I looked up at her, blinking away the tears as I did. She was right, I was just adding to the burden we were already facing with my behavior. He suppressed his worries and fears so many times for me, it was time I did the same. But I didn't even begin to know how to do that. All I could do was look helplessly up at my freinds.

It was Hide that held my gaze the longest, only breaking it to transform down. A moment after he did his holoform came into view next to me, kneeling on one knee by my side. And oddly enough, Chromia's appeared on my other side.

"She needs help understanding exactly what she can do." The female calmly told Hide. "I don't think he has instructed her on it."

"He hasn't." He agreed. "They have a sparkbond, or something very close to it, and yet she is almost clueless on what that exactly entails."

"What?" I looked at them both confused. What were they talking about?

"You fear if he is alive, correct?" Hide asked me. And I nodded in agreement. "Let me ask you this, did you feel a change in your spark? Do you still feel him?"

"I've tried to reach out to him, Hide. I tried calling him." I whispered, almost in tears again. "He won't answer."

"I said spark...not head. Did you feel a change in your spark?"

"N-no..." I answered.

"Then he is alive." Chromia told me gently. "With a bond like that one will feel the other passing."

Hope surged through me as I took in those words. Leo was alive...he had to be.

"Yes, he is." Hide spoke up. "Now, can you lay that worry to rest so we can discuss the next step to take?"

A calm determination came over me then as I looked around at them all. I knew what I had to do, had known but was too upset to put it all together. "Simple." I said as I stood up. "I'm going to get him back."

"What about that dang machine?" Cris asked. "That thing is still floating around out there too."

"I'm fairly sure that when we find him, we will find it also." I replied.

"And what makes you so sure of that?" She snipped at me.

I shrugged. "Leo must be rubbing off on me. Just call it a hunch." She groaned at me and I rolled my eyes at her. "Think about it. They were out here with a machine, and with human captives. Clearly the intent was to use it on them."

"Yeah...I got that part, I'm not stupid you know."

"They can communicate with each other the same way the bots can...right?" She nodded her agreement. "Then as soon as we hit the prisoner convoy, Megatron knew about it. Knew that all his test subjects were gone."

Her eyes widened as what I was implying hit her. "So he took Leo as a replacement... Shit! We gotta move! Um...anyone have any idea which way they went?"

The bots all shook their heads no. Marina however pointed east. "How do you know?" Cris asked her.

She just gave her a level stare. "Really? Did you really just ask me that?"

"Oh yeah...I forgot..."

"I did too." I admitted sheepishly. Now my wild run through the forest seemed really stupid now. I had been running the wrong way the whole fucking time.

I looked towards the direction Marina had pointed, once again feeling that determination. This time it was mixed with a tint of urgency. I followed that pull without even thinking about it, walking with a stride that that told everyone what I had on my mind.

"Oh no!" Cris snapped as she caught up with me. "You are _not_ going by yourself!"

"I'm not going to wait." I snapped back. "The others are scattered all over this forest, I'm not going to waste time trying to regroup."

"And you will be stumbling along blind if you try." Marina said as she walked on my other side. "I'm going with you, someone has to show you the way. Since you are obviously not going to wait."

"Leo would kill me if I just let you run off alone." Cria added. "You're stuck with me too."

Hide's holoform popped into view in front of us, his eyes angry and his arms crossed. "I will not allow this! It is too dangerous!"

"Try and stop me." I growled at him.

"I will." He growled right back

"You will do no such thing." Cromia told him as she and her sisters pulled up next to us. "She is right, there is no time. Gather the others and follow us, we will take them."

"Why are you all insisting on this insanity!" He snapped.

"Because he's done it for me when I needed him!" I snapped right back at him. "I'm not going to just wait, knowing every second we do they could be..." I had to stop that line of thought, or I would break down again. "Damn it Hide! I know what they can do and I won't let them!"

It hung there a moment between us before a look of understanding flashed across his face, and compassion. "Very well. If you feel you must, then go. We will follow as soon as we can." Then his holoform disappeared.

"Get on." Chromia told us and we did. I slid on to her frame as Marina and Cris loaded up on the other two. "Hold on, this might be a little bumpy." She warned me before she took off like a horse out of a race stall.

I didn't know whether to shit my pants in fear or to let out a childish scream of delight as we zipped along the forest. The natural hazards we easily navigated around as we tore through the underbrush. I held on as Chromia played dodge the trees, my earlier mixed feeling about this ride eventually giving way to the more important one to me right now. Leo. That calm determination came over me again and I calmed down and settled into the ride. I fully meant what I said earlier, I was going to get him back. And I fucking dared anyone to try and stop me.


	31. Chapter 31

He woke up in unfamiliar surroundings. And he didn't like the predicament he found himself in. He was strapped spread eagle against the wall in some kind of metal room. Was pretty much the only thing he could tell about where he was. He looked around and noticed other metal clamps spaced evenly along the wall of the small room he found himself in. Enough for four or five others at least. Then it hit him. He wasn't in a room, he was in their machine.

That made him struggle against his restraints, but the effort was wasted. They had used metal for a reason. It couldn't break. He couldn't break them anyway. He was trapped.

"Damn it!" Leo growled, trying again. He refused to give up. One way or another he was going to get out of here, or die trying.

He gave up after a few moments though, he just couldn't budge them. He sighed in defeat as he looked around for another option. He wasn't feeling very optimistic right now to be honest. The only comfort he really could find was in the fact that he was alone, Cris and Donnie had apparently made a clean escape.

He collapsed against the restraints, ignoring their painful pull on his arms. Not like they were actually comfortable before. Nothing was comfortable about being held to wall, up off of the floor, by your wrists and ankles. Take also into consideration that his limbs were bent behind him a little, because of his shell pushing him out from the wall, he really wished he were somewhere else right now. Vicky's arms sounded about right.

Vicky...Lord, she must be worried sick. She really didn't need this right now. On top of everything else that was going on with her, he had to let his dumbass get caught and more than likely added to her current problems. His head snapped back up again. He had get out of here, he would get out of here. He would get out of here, find her, hold her and not let her go for a week. If he could see his own eyes he would see that fire light up in them as he once again began to try and find a way out of this mess.

The sound of a door opening made his head snap around, and he actually snarled at the figure that stepped through.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the mighty Leonardo is upset with his current predicament." Bishop smirked as he walked in a few steps.

Leo didn't say anything, but his glare told the man exactly what Leo thought of him. Leo didn't believe in unnecessary killings. They weren't right, if done too many times it could strip you of compassion, feeling and shred apart your very being until something that wasn't you was all that remained. It did more damage than good. But he was completely honest with himself when he admitted he wanted nothing more than to reach over and snap this man's neck. This was one man he could fully justify killing in cold blood. Hide was right, he should have done it years ago.

"It's a shame that you are the only one here to witness this marvelous machine in action. I was hoping for a full front row, but your family decided to release the useless saps I had gathered up for the Decepticons to use." His eyes narrowed with his own hate. "Seems like they chose you as their replacement. They are growing impatient and I don't have time to round up more."

Still, Leo remained quiet. Not giving Bishop the pleasure of seeing fear from him. The only thing Leo did let him see was the hate he had for the man.

"Always the brave one, the fearless one. The righteous annoyance that has interfered with my plans for too many times. Soon you will be the first to fall, and the rest of your little family will follow. Though I have to admit the women are of great interest to me. Something has changed in them I've noticed. Something that is all too familiar."

Leo's jaw clenched a little at that, but that was all he would show of his anger. He knew Bishop was trying to goad him, to get him to tell him something, and that meant the man really didn't know exactly what had happened to Vicky and Cris. And Leo would be damned if he told him. Bishop kept at it however.

"Seems like they have gained some abilities. Speed and strength that resembles Marina's very much. Even surpases hers if I read the signs right. Especially the one you seem fond of. What was her name again? Vicky? She has come a long way from the woman I had strapped down on my cutting table and seems to be the most powerful of the three, even if she doesn't realize it. I must compliment you on patching her up, had to have been Donatello's work. Too bad I'll have to put her back in that state."

"You will keep your filthy hands off of her." Leo growled at him.

"Oh, trust me Leonardo. My hands will be perfectly clean when I begin my examination of her, wouldn't want to contaminate the blood and tissue samples afterall. I know where Marina got her enhancement from, but what about the other two? The answers are within the women themselves, and I tend to leave nothing untouched in my study of them. Shame they won't survive it." He tilted his head a little as he gave Leo a nasty grin. "It's obvious they got it from you. But how? That is the mystery. It took years to develop that formula I used on Marina, and even then it was flawed. But here she is, just a few short years after she runs across my radar, gone from perfectly normal, to a human version of you. And yet, it is obvious the change started before you even met Marina. Simply because of how far advanced her potential is. Tell me, are you the one holding her back? She can do so much more than what I caught sight of. Or are you so close to her that you are blind to it?"

"The only thing I will tell you Bishop, is that you better hope I don't get out of here." Leo grimly told him. "Because now that you made your intentions perfectly clear towards her, I'm going to rip your throat out." He couldn't help the anger filled pull of his arm as he tried to do just that, but was once again held in place by the restraint.

"Interesting. I dare say you love the woman. Not surprising considering the way you try so hard to protect her."

"Something you know nothing about." Leo snarled at him.

"Something I don't need." Came the reply. "Hold your memories of her close to you Leonardo, because soon you won't have them anymore. Once Shockwave arrives we will start the machine, and everything you ever knew will be gone. I am looking forward to the experiment actually." He smirked and stepped back out then the door closed behind him.

He had to get out of here! _Now!_ But he'd be damned if he knew how! He did the only thing he could do. Pulled on the restraints, again and again. Each failure to get his arms free fueling his anger until he was almost blinded by it. And that anger had reached out across the unknown distance, catching someone's attention.

_'Leo?'_

That call cut through his anger. Quickly he regained control of his emotions, so as not to worry her any more than she already was. _'I'm here, dear one.'_ Lord it felt so good to hear her voice.

_'We're coming. Not so far away anymore from where they took you.'_

For a brief moment panic hit him. No! She shouldn't come here! God damn it! Bishop and soon, if he wasn't already, Shockwave would be too. She wasn't ready... Again he had to squash unwanted feelings to keep them from her. _'Vicky! It's not safe, stay back!'_

_'I will do no such thing!' _She flared back at him.

_'Please dear one!'_ He begged her, trying to get her to understand.

_'NO!'_ He stopped when he heard the anguish in her voice. _'I thought I lost you once already today, Leo. I'll be damned if I lose you twice!'_

The sheer determination in her voice cut off anything he would have said her to stop her. She wouldn't listen anyway. And the raw emotion she sent with it brought him almost to tears. Damn he loved that woman, loved her so much as he read her completely open feelings. He felt her love for him, her worry. Felt the anguish she had went through earlier as she struggled to fight it back down. She never really did learn to hide her feelings, she was always so open with them. Unashamed to share them with him. While he tried to hide things from her, to protect her, she shared it all. Her happiness, her fears, worries. And now her unbending resolve. She was going to do this, because she loved him. And it was that simple thing that moved him the most.

He held onto that as he once again fought to free himself. He _would_ get out of here, he _would_ hold her again, he _would_ make things right by her. He vowed that from here on out he wouldn't hide anything from her again. Maybe if he hadn't tried to be the brave one before and hide his own doubts and fears from her, had shared them the way she so willingly shared hers, he wouldn't be in this god damn mess! The whole situation would have played out differently that day when she had finally snapped. She wouldn't be so full of doubt about everything now, which made him make the choices he did today. And look where that got him. No more. She deserved nothing but honesty from him, and she was going to get it.

_'Dear one, please be careful. Bishop is here, as well as Shockwave.'_ He finally admitted to her. Better for her to know now, than find out later.

_'I really don't care. I have a score to settle with them anyway.'_ She told him fiercely. _That_ made him blink a minute, really wasn't expecting that reaction. Something had changed. Something had taken her fears and pushed them firmly aside so she could do what she needed to do. He didn't know what, but he found a small smile on his face over it. She was finding her old self, and that relieved him more than a little.

_'Almost there.' _She told him then. Trying to send him the same comfort that he did with her. Well, this wasn't odd at all. He chuckled a little. Normally _he_ was the one sending _her_ the reassuring messages.

He was about to reply to her when he felt the wall that he was pinned to begin to vibrate. Damn it...He was out of time. For the countless time he resumed his struggles, pulling against the restraints this time hard enough to where they dug into his skin. His arms were wanting him to stop the torment, but he just growled and pushed the pain away as he pulled harder, his arms straining and the veins bulging with the effort. To lose this fight would mean he would never see her again, and that he refused to let happen. He closed his eyes and pulled even harder. And was rewarded for his efforts by the slight popping sounds as they finally started to break away from the wall. So close, he was so close...

His arms came free with a snap, sending the metal cuffs flying across the small space. He ignored his bleeding wrists and quickly caught himself before he toppled forward. With one hand supporting his weight up off of the floor, his other quickly undid the ankle restraints and he then found himself standing on shaky legs. Lord they hurt now. How long had he been hanging there? It didn't matter. Getting out of here did.

He just got one step in towards the door, when he was suddenly hit. Not with anything physical, but his mind felt like it was on fire. He collapsed to his knees as his hands reached for his head. The pain, the pain was unbearable. Agony was all he could register before he felt something else. Something trying to get inside of his mind, something that didn't belong there. He heard Vicky calling out to him, but she was quickly being pushed aside as this new...thing..tried to take up residence inside him. If it did, he would be lost. Leo wasn't going to lose.

"No!" He growled out and fought back. He used every technique he had learned over the years, used the countless hours he spent meditating, both with his father and on his own, the mental training that he believed allowed him to even be able to reach out to Vicky, he used it all and pushed back. All he did was hold it so it couldn't come farther in, but that's not what he wanted. He wanted it _out!_

Snarling with the effort, he pushed harder. He had too. He could feel Vicky calling him and he wanted so much to answer her but he couldn't. All of his efforts went to pushing back whatever it was that had come into his most private domain. Something he instinctively knew would rip who he was out of his body if he let it. He would not let it.

Letting out another growl he pushed even harder. Took everything he held dear in his memories, his father, his brothers, the children, the rest of his family...Vicky... He held onto all of it, took strength from it and used it to aid him. His lip was still curled into a snarl as he fought, pushed harder. His body was trembling from the strain but it went ignored as he started to remove this unwanted feeling. His loud growl went unheard by him as with one last final push it began to recede. He kept that push, threw everything he could at it, forcing it out. He wanted it _out! __OUT! _

Then, just as suddenly as it came...it was gone... He felt something tear and he was suddenly free of the intrusion as he finally succeeded it fighting it off. He opened eyes he didn't know he had closed to find himself on his hands and knees, shaking violently, the sheer effort had drained him to the point he couldn't stand. And once he realized he had won, that he was still where he was supposed to be, he collapsed to the floor. He was so exhausted he couldn't move. He could only hope it didn't come back, he wasn't sure he could fight it off again. He didn't even have the strength to keep his eyes open and soon darkness once again found him as he passed out.


	32. Chapter 32

"Hurry!" I desperately told the Autobot I was hunched low over.

"We are trying." Chromia calmly replied as we followed Elita and Marina.

The trip had been very bumpy at the beginning, racing through the forest on two wheels really didn't make a smooth ride. Once we shot out of that forest and hit the open terrain we went much quicker. But not quick enough to completely escape the ass chewing we were going to get. I knew that was coming as soon as I saw some more vehicles break through the treeline. A black pickup, two yellow and two silver cars. Do I really need to tell you who they were? Or who was in them?

"Damn it all to hell Vicky!" Raph roared at me as Hide pulled closer. "It's bad enough you go charging off like that and now you take the others _with_ you! Without letting me know! What in the hell were you thinking?!"

"Leo!" I snapped back at him. "That's what I was thinking!"

Raph was visibly shaking in anger as he glared at me. Then he turned to Cris who rode behind me on Arcee. "And what's _your_ excuse?"

"Didn't feel like listening to you explode...and got stuck doing it anyway." She grinned at him.

He kept glaring at her, his mouth opening and closing as he obviously tried to say something, but was too angry to put anything together. "Women!" He finally snapped, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. "You can't live with them and you can't go missing to get away from them!"

Bee came rolling up on the other side with Mikey hanging out of the window. "Dude...chill bro. Hide let us know in time for us to catch up to them. It's all good."

I glared at the black truck as Raph proceeded to tell Mikey how "It all wasn't good". "You snitchy ass motherfucker..." I mumbled.

"I told you I would not allow it. You should know by now I mean what I say."

I just sighed and shook my head. But I did take comfort in having them with me, even if Raph was filling the air around us with his hooping and hollering.

Now we were tearing up the road in a loose formation, following something only Marina could feel. Jazz pulled around all of us and joined the lead with Marina and Elita and a moment later Donnie was talking to the turtle tracker as we all raced along. I couldn't hear what was being said between them, but I did see Marina gesturing towards a town up ahead that was quickly coming into view. Donnie just nodded and pulled his head back in.

A moment later Jazz pulled back towards our vehicle huddle. Once again he popped his head out, this time to talk to me. "He's in that town from what Marina can tell. She can't pinpoint exactly where yet, but she can tell he is now stationary."

"They didn't take him far." I mused.

"Not sure they had the time to take him very far. We were right on top of them when they flew the coup, but they still seem pretty much intent on finishing what they started."

"Or them fraggers know we got a lock on 'em now and are fortifien' their position." Jazz added. "Find ah betta spot tah hold us off."

"Like they could." Sides replied from behind us.

"Don't get cocky." Hide snapped at him. "More than likely they already know we are coming and they have had more than enough time to prepare."

"I'm not cocky." Sides shot back. "I'm confident."

"Confidently stupid." Hide grumbled.

"Thought that was you." Sides quipped back.

"Hey," Casey climbed over Raph so he could pop his head out the window "I thought Mikey was the confidently stupid one."

"Will you get off!" Raph growled as he shoved his friend back inside the vehicle.

"Primus..." Chromia sighed. "Mechs are all nothing but oversized sparklings...no matter what species."

I smiled at little at the comment but kept quiet as we kept going.

The town was close enough now to where you could pick out the individual buildings from the previous big blob on the horizon. And we were close enough to see the mass flight of terrified individuals.

"Careful!" Jazz suddenly snapped. "They are comin'!"

"Great." I mumbled. "And now we have all of these scared shitless folks in between us and them. Not a very ideal situation."

"Hold any kind of return fire as long as you can!" Hide called out. "Engage only if you have a clear shot!"

"Sure thing Hide." Sides replied. "You going to tell us how to transform next because we didn't already know that?"

There was a growling sound coming from the black truck, but he kept his comment to himself.

The turtles pulled back inside their rides as we swiftly zoommed by the confused and frightened inhabitants of this town. I just shook my head over it all, Will and Epps were going to have a huge mess to clean up trying to explain this crap. Fucking Cons.

Chromia weaved her way with ease around the screaming mass of people. The bikes broke out the other end of the crowd first, mainly because the larger bots had larger frames to try and get through with.

"Keep going!" Marina shouted over all of the commotion. "He's on the other side of the town!"

"Go figure." Cris grumbled as Arcee zipped past us.

Chromia also picked up speed and soon we were once again flying over the pavement. It was around this time that I felt Leo. My joy at hearing from him quickly turned right back into fear as I was literally pushed out of the way by something I couldn't explain. The only thing I knew was that it hurt him...a lot. I tried to fight through that barrier but I couldn't. My blood ran cold over it all. He was alive, in pain and I had no idea what in the hell was going on. Then, just as suddenly as he popped into my head...he was gone again. Nothing but silence answered my calls.

"God damn it!" I burst out in anger.

"What?" Cris asked me.

"I had him. For a few moments I was able to talk to him. Now he's gone again."

"What happened?"

"I don't know!"

Our conversation was cut short as the first Cons made their appearance, as usual by shooting at us. "This is getting old real quick." I mumbled as Chromia weaved and dodged the incoming fire.

"It's been old already for thousands of years." She replied wearily. "Hold on."

I hunkered down even more and just let her do her thing. I had to trust fully in her to get me where I needed to go and I did. The three motorcycles swerved and weaved so fast down the street that I was honestly surprised that they didn't lose their balance and tip over. But as good as they were at this, I really didn't see how we were going to get past the trio of Cons that blocked the road ahead of us. Blackout, Brawl and Barricade, oh my.

They took aim at us again and we were getting very close to them by now. I was getting a bit nervous about that fact, wasn't sure the small Autobots could dodge a blast at close range.

Turns out I didn't need to worry about that. Hide pulled up on one side of us and Bee was on the other. "Go!" Sunstreaker shouted to us from behind. "We'll deal with this!"

"Go where?" I shouted back in frustration. They were taking up the whole damn street! Where the fuck did Mr. Personality think we could go?

No one answered, but Raph quickly hopped out of Hide and onto the roof before rolling back into the bed, Casey following suit on the other side. Then both of them leapt backwards off of the large Autobot and on top of Sunny who was following them. Casey landed with a flop, but Raph kept his footing. As soon as they were clear Hide transformed up and opened fire. I couldn't believe his aim was so fucking bad as his rounds hit a billboard on top of one of the buildings. I watched it fall as we speed even closer and it landed on a parked car with one end on the ground, the other tilted upwards. My eyes grew wide as dinner plates as Chromia took aim for that makeshift ramp, not slowing down a bit.

The others were now coming around and pulled in front of us, Mikey car surfing on top of Bee the same way Raph was on Sunny. I had no idea what the hell Casey was trying to do, seemed to involve a lot of screaming and flopping around though. Their aim was straight for the Cons in front of us.

They charged right into the Cons, Bee and Sunny breaking at the last minute which of course sent their nonrobotic passengers airbourne. Mikey and Raph flew, twisted and landed on the Cons, Casey tried to figure out if he flapped his arms hard enough would they turn into wings? Raph ended up having to snatch him out of the air before he slammed face first into his target.

That was the last I caught sight of all of them, because that's when Chromia hit that ramp, with Elita and Arcee on either side. We flew off of the top of it, high and far, right over the now very distracted Cons. Distracted because they were getting the nosebolts beat out of them.

I held on tight to the handlebars, so tight my knuckles were solid white. Shit...I was having enough trouble learning to be a damn ninja...didn't really want to add stuntman to my list of things to do. Cris didn't either by the way she was squealing next to me. Marina just took it all in stride...did anything phase that woman?

We hit the ground surprisingly softly, and they just kept speeding on as if they just didn't jump a robot deathmatch. Cris looked like she would have rather done the robot deathmatch.

Jazz came out of nowhere just then, how the fuck did he get by the clusterfuck?, and pulled alongside of us. "Got more coming!" Donnie so very helpfully informed us.

"Marina! Can you pinpoint him yet?" I frantically asked the woman riding by my side.

"We are close." She calmly told me, as if we weren't in the middle of a Con infested town. "We need to veer north a bit though."

"Got it." Donnie answered as he looked down at his wrist display. Side street coming up. Take it, so far it's clear."

And so we did. We followed a maze of twists and turns, trying to stay out of the view of Cons that seemed to be sprouting up like daisies. How in the hell did they all infiltrate this poor town without anyone knowing?

"There!" Marina finally told us and the bikes skidded to a stop. Marina pointed to a building that was about four stories high. "He's on the top of it."

I looked up with narrowed eyes as I got off of my ride. "Jazz!"

"No need tah shout lil lady. A'hm right here."

"Throw me." Was all I told him.

"You can't be serious!" Cris snapped "Take the damn stairs Vicky!"

"There isn't time!" I snapped back at her and spun back towards the saboteur. "Throw me up there."

"Vicky, Ah don' think-"

"Just do it god damn it!" Why wouldn't they just listen to me! "You don't have to get me all the way up, but I'm not going to waste time trying to find the damn stairs, then run up them. Just throw me as high as you can!"

Donnie got out and Jazz transformed into his bot mode, then knelt down next to me. "Are you sure?" He asked, all trace of his accent gone as he spoke seriously for the first time since I've met him.

"Yes. Jazz please." I fought back the tears. "I can't waste anymore time..."

"Send me up with her." Marina added. "I won't let her do this alone."

"We all go." Donnie said firmly. "Send me up first, then throw them to me."

"A'ight." Jazz finally agreed. "Canna argue with all of yah."

He smoothly launched Donnie up first, who landed on a windowsill on the top floor and balanced easily on it. Marina went up next and she was easily caught, then it was Cris' turn.

"Fuck...you...My happy ass is going to find the damn stairs." And with that she turned and stomped off.

I just rolled my eyes as Jazz picked me up. Then I was swiftly making my towards Donnie who already had his hand out to catch me. He smoothly guided me onto the windowsill next to him and handed me something. I looked down at it as I took it from him. Shuko spikes.

You are going to have to slam your hand pretty hard to get them to dig in on this concrete." He told me. "Think you can do it?" His eyes met mine, and I caught a quick, worried gleam flash in them real quick.

"I don't have a choice." I replied as I slipped them on, then turned and slammed my hand into the wall, then the other higher up. I took a deep breath, then lifted myself. The spikes held. After that I didn't even give it anymore thought, the only concern I had was getting up that wall. And a few moments later I reached the parapet.

I peeked over and didn't like what I was seeing. There was no sign of Leo, but the rooftop was definitely not empty. Soundwave, Starscream, Shockwave, Megatron and Bishop were all up here. Along with a big ass metal I don't know what the fuck it is.

"That's the machine." Donnie told me quietly as he held onto the wall with one arm, the other was taking readings of the silly contraption. He looked back and forth between the device and his readings a few times before anger flashed in his eyes. "They recently turned it on..."

"What?" I asked him, stunned. "Is he in there?"

"Yes." Marina answered before Donnie could.

Anger filled me as I glared over the rooftop. "What did it do? What did it do to him?"

"I don't know." Donnie answered, with a small frown. "But I've seen these readings before."

"Where?"

"In that cave they had you in." He looked at me. "The cave where you couldn't reach him. The machine is giving off the same kind of readings."

"And that means what to us stupid ones?" Marina asked him slightly annoyed.

"It means that machine was the reason for her not being able to reach him. Which means that machine more than likely is made to interact mentally somehow with it's...victims."

"And you just said they recently used it?" I asked him as a chill went down my spine.

He barely got a nod out before my ass was over that wall and running towards that piece of shit contraption.

"Did she just...she just took off!" Donnie stuttered. "No cover, no plan...no nothing...son of a bitch..."

"Stare stupefied later." I heard Marina snap. "Help her!"

I ignored it all. The only thing I paid any attention too was the only door I could find, the door that had Leo behind it. I heard all hell break loose around me, but I didn't care. I had no clue what was happening and I didn't stop to look. I wouldn't stop until I could set eyes on him. Or if a Decepticon foot slammed down in front of me, which was exactly what happened next.

I glared up at the Con dumb enough to get in my way and Starscream grinned down at me. "Going somewhere?"

"Move!" I snapped at him as I kicked his foot.

"Was that supposed to hurt? You fleshlings are so pitiful."

"And you're stupid. Now get the hell out of my way!" Yeah...my mouth strikes again...

"I'll show you stupid!" He screeched at me as he lifted his foot up again, and this time brought it down over me. I just shrugged and ran out from under it. He seemed a bit startled that I managed to get away from him so quick, so what does he do? He tries it again. Good Lord...how did this idiot ever make it to second in command? I just moved again.

"Stand still you disgusting thing!"

"Yeah...like I'm going to do that." I told him sarcastically, then kicked him again.

"Will you stop that!"

"Then get out of my way you rust bucket!"

This time he didn't try and step on me, but he did pull out the big guns. I just kept glaring up at him until that telltale whine hit, then I leapt out of the way, rolled along the rooftop and sprung back to my feet again. Towards him. He seemed shocked again as I charged straight for him and before he could get another shot off I was climbing on him like a damn spider. I guess he really thought I was gross like one because he let out this little girl scream and started to do the bug slap dance. His aim was all off as I kept climbing though, he was hitting everywhere _but_ where I was currently at.

I made it to the part of his arm where his cannon was at, somehow holding on as he kept trying to slap me off, and found some interesting looking wires. Well now...what did these do? I shrugged again and yanked on them with more than enough force to rip them out. Suddenly his happy dance stopped as he looked in shock at what I just did. "You idiot! You just caused that to overload!" Huh...might be why it was starting to whine and heat up really quick.

"Oops. Sucks to be you." I told him as I jumped off. I hit the ground, hard, in a roll just as his arm went boom. Go figure it was the same arm Side's took off the first time I met this bumbling Con out on the battlefield. Oh the irony...

I let him worry about his missing again appendage as I ran on. Finally, finally I made it to that door. I found what looked like the handle and pulled..and the stupid thing wouldn't open. I screamed with frustration. He was just on the other side of this damn door and I couldn't get it open! I grabbed it again, and I pulled. WHen that refused to work I put my foot up on the side of it, took it with both hands and pulled again. Never before had I tried to use as much strength as I did trying to get that damn thing open. I was going to get into that damn thing, I refused to believe anything else. It was giving, but not enough, so I tried even harder. But that was it. It wasn't going to go anymore than that. I had tears of frustration in my eyes now, he was in there, I knew he was in there, but I couldn't do it!

I didn't give up, couldn't give up. And soon I didn't have to give up. Cris was there and she quickly wrapped her hands around the handle and pushed off with her leg the same way I did. No words were said between us as we fought that door, our friendship was so deep by now that none were needed, she knew why I was doing what I was and she fully threw herself into the task of helping me. There was still sounds of fighting behind us, but we paid it no mind. The only thing we heard was the sound of bending metal as the door finally began bending out of it's latch. Then all at once it flew open, throwing us both to the rooftop. "Go get him." Cris told me as we picked ourselves up. "I'll stay here and try to cover you."

I just nodded and dashed into the thing, and there he was. "Oh...Leo..." I whispered when I caught sight of him laying on the floor, unresponsive. I moved in and dropped to my knees next to him. His breathing was stable, as was his pulse. I couldn't find any signs of injury, besides his bloody wrists. And that shouldn't have anything to do with him being passed out on the floor, so what had happened? My eyes searched his body, trying to find out anything that might help me figure out what in the hell was going on. "Leo." I shook him softly, like a little kid trying to wake up mommy. "Leo, come on..."

You have no idea how big that rock on my chest felt when it finally dropped when I saw him move. His arms twitched a little, then a tired, very tired sounding groan met my ears. "Leo! Wake up!"

Slowly his eyes finally blinked open and I almost cried in relief when his eyes met mine. "Hey...I see you made it." He smiled at me as he forced himself into a sitting position.

I didn't say anything as I wrapped my arms around him. He was fine, what ever they tried to do to him, didn't work. He was fine...

I reached out to him the other way, more out of habit than anything else...and felt nothing. Only emptiness where he usually was. I pulled back in shock to see the same expression on his own face. Eyes wide we looked at each other as I tried again, and by his jaw clenching I knew he did too. He got the same result I did. Nothing. He wasn't alright after all...our connection was gone.


	33. Chapter 33

"Leo...what happened?" I asked him, still staring at him in shock. "Why can't we...why can't I...why aren't you there?"

"I'm not sure, dear one." He answered me quietly as he looked down at me before he pulled me close again. "I...I don't know what to tell you either." We sat there for a moment, trying to deal with this before it sunk into our confused heads that this might not be the best spot to try and figure this out. "Come on," he said as he got to his feet, then helped me to mine "we need to go."

I looked at him as he stood in front of me. He looked so worn and tired. Something had happened in here, and it took a lot out of him. He actually stumbled that first step he tried to take.

And that was the only step he was able to take before Cris' limp body came flying into him. He was barely able to catch her and hold on to her. "Cris! What happened?" He asked her as she groaned in pain in his arms. He quickly knelt back down on the floor with her, if it was to check on her or because he couldn't hold her up in his current state I wasn't sure.

Her unfocused eyes opened and she blinked at him. "I'm sorry...I tried to hold him back...and I couldn't." She mumbled out.

"Who?" I asked her.

"Me." Came the answer from behind me and I spun around, to come face to face with Bishop.

"So nice of you to join us. I was hoping you would join in on the festivities."

"Leave her alone!" Leo snarled at him.

"Why should I?" He gave me that nasty smirk. "She so willingly decided to place herself within in my reach. And congratulations Leonardo, you managed, somehow, to fight back the device. You just earned yourself a special session with Shockwave to figure out how." He looked back at me. "While I satisfy my curiosity concerning the women."

I stared him down. For the first time since I have met him, I wasn't scared of him. I didn't back away, I didn't look to Leo for protection, wasn't sure he could right now anyway, I didn't cower in fear. For once, I faced him fully unafraid. I didn't know why I suddenly lost all fear for the man, until the sounds of Leo trying to get back to his feet behind me made it click. My fear for Leo's safety outweighed my fear of this piece of trash in front of me. This time he was the one who needed protection and I was the only one who could give it to him. I had too much at stake to let Bishop get to me.

"Leave us alone." I almost snarled at the man. Almost repeating Leo exactly verbatim and in tone.

"I will, once I'm done with you."

Leo let out a startled scream as Bishop suddenly made a grab for me. A grab that suddenly seemed...slower to me than usual. I swiftly sidestepped it and brought my own arm down on his, knocking it away. My eyes met his behind his tinted lenses and I fully let him see my anger. Anger that had once been fear. His own eyes narrowed in return. "Well, then. If that's how you want to do this."

He came at me again, this time in a full fledged attack. He was still strong as he was before, but something inside of me had snapped. I refused to be the cowering victim to him anymore. I refused to give in to him, I refused to just let this happen. I would fight back, I would take Leo back with me and we would have a conversation that was so desperately needed between us. And this sack of shit would not stand between us and our way out.

I used everything I had on the man. Met him punch for punch, finding the strength from somewhere deep down to hold him off. As hard as I tried that was all I could do, was hold him off. I couldn't beat him. If I kept this up he would win, but I refused to make it easy for him.

He came in in a rush after I was able to push him back with a well placed kick. "Not good enough." He smirked as we again began to trade blows. His arms came in in a swift combo, and I barely was able to get mine up in blocks to those combos. He brought a leg around for a leg sweep and I had to leap up to avoid it, and he quickly brought another punch in, one that I wasn't going to be able to block in time in my awkward position. I tensed for the blow that was about to come.

It never did. "No!" Leo snarled through clenched teeth as he was suddenly beside me. "No more will you hurt her!" How he found the strength after looking so tired earlier to hold back that swing, I don't know. "Together." He then told me in a softer tone, and I nodded.

And together we did what I couldn't do on my own. We fought as one against him, and slowly we managed to push him back, towards the door and away from Cris who was still trying to collect herself behind us. We fought for her freedom and we fought for ours. And I fought to give this guy some serious payback. I was sick of him. Sick of fearing him, sick of all the things he did, and kept doing.

Once we were near the door Leo and I both managed to block his punches at the same time, and as one we brought our legs up and placed solid kicks into his midsection, effectively sending him flying out of the machine. Bishop flew for a bit before he hit the rooftop.

"Get her." Leo told me, not taking his eyes off of Bishop as he stood back up, eyes that were flaring by now. He seriously hated the man.

"No need." Cris mumbled as she joined us. "I'm ok enough to walk now."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, he hits like a damn freight train...but I'm good enough to function."

"Then let's go." He strode swiftly out the door with us following close behind. And we stepped into a big pile of hoooooly shit...

It wasn't just our small group up here anymore. Donnie and Marina were now joined by Raph and the others, Jazz was up here along with the triplets. I had no idea how they got up here but assumed that Jazz may have helped the females with it, or someone else did. I could see Hide and Bee on another building not far away, firing at the high ranking evil robots that were still up here, while Sunny and Sides were going toe to toe with Shockwave. They were keeping the Cons busy while we were occupied inside. Overall the place was hell as you had everyone scrambling every which way and all of them trying to keep away from Megatron who was throwing a humungous shit fit.

Leo ignored them all as he kept walking towards Bishop. "You." He snarled again at him. "You made the mistake of threatening them, and you made the mistake of putting me in that damn machine. I warned you. You better hope I didn't get out." His intentions were more than perfectly clear as he closed in on the black clad man. Bishop didn't back down from the angry turtle, just sneered as Leo closed in. "Because I meant what I said earlier." It wasn't like Leo to lose sight of the situation around him and I could only wonder at what happened in there to make him fix his attention so firmly on one target, when shit was blowing up all around us.

"Leo! Look out!" Raph suddenly screamed over everything, like only Raph could. Leo only had that instant of warning to quickly spring backwards as a shot hit the rooftop in front of him. He kept doing those flips as he was pelted with bits and pieces of the building material. He finally skidded to a stop backwards on his last landing, right next next to me.

"Damn it..." Leo growled as he finally took the situation in, right about the same time we all went dodging again. He slammed his fist on the ground as he was forced once again to watch as Bishop removed himself from the combat.

Donnie came diving next to us with Marina right behind him as we huddled down, rounds hitting the roof top behind them. "Are you hurt?" He asked his older brother after we got done protecting ourselves from another shower of debris.

"No." Leo almost snapped at him, then calmed himself down. "No Donnie, I'm not hurt." He then replied in a softer tone.

"We need to get off of this rooftop." Donnie then informed him. "It's not going to take much more of this before it collapses. Jazz and the triplets are already making their getaway and Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are trying to hold the Cons back, but not even those hardheads can hold up to this kind of fight. These guys are just too tough."

"Of course they are." Cris said. "They are the best fighters in the Con line up...except Screamer. He can't fight his way out of a paper bag."

"More of them closing in really isn't going to help either. We are all going be severely outnumbered here in a little bit and the others are still too far out to do us any good. We need to get out of here. If the roof doesn't collapse first...the Cons will finish us off."

"Take out this damn machine." Leo told him. "I refuse to leave it here."

"I don't think we have the time."

"Then make the time!" Leo flared. "I got a taste of what it can do and I'm not going to just leave it here with them!"

"Leo-"

"Do it!"

Donnie just sighed as he looked the thing over. After a few seconds he moved to a panel and ripped it off, muttering to himself as he did. "Maybe if I rewire this console to the feedback line over there I can-"

Again he was cut off, this time by Marina as she just jabbed both of her knives in it, then turned them on. The whole contraption started to smoke, then sparks started to fly out of the panel before an eerie whine started. "Or that works too." Donnie said.

Raph and Mikey decided to show up at that moment, both of them skidding around the machine. "We need to go!" Raph snapped as they did. "The twins had to retreat!"

"Where's Casey?" I asked him.

"Sideswipe yanked him already off of the rooftop."

"Then it's our turn." Leo said as he got to his feet. "How much time do we have?" He asked Donnie. He only got a shrug in reply. "Are you serious!" Leo snapped.

"Hey! I'm not the one who did it this time so don't blame me for the faulty timing!"

They both looked at Marina then, and she just let out her own shrug.

Leo just grabbed my hand and hauled ass towards the nearest edge. He gave me a quick, hesitant look as we ran. "Tell me honestly Vicky...Do you trust me?"

"Leo, I always did...it was myself I didn't trust."

His eyes teared up a little before he quickly blinked them away. "Listen you three." I knew it was us women he was addressing, not his brothers. "You're not going to like this, but it's the quickest way. Try to relax and just go with it."

"Go with what?" Cris asked suspiciously as we neared the edge.

"The flow." Raph told her. "Cris, I won't let you fall, I promise."

Her eyes grew wide, but she just gave a curt nod. We didn't have time to argue over it.

Then we hit the edge and Leo and I stepped off, hard. As I went up over the gap I felt Leo pull on my arm to give me some extra momentum, then my happy ass was flying in the air four fucking stories above the ground level.

What happened next I can only explain as midair hot potato. I barely registered the explosion behind us, because I was trying to focus on my newest lesson. How to roof top travel with out the guys actually carrying me. And this really wasn't how I wanted to learn it either.

Leo had launched me in the air and my arms and legs instinctively did the rotating pinwheeling crap as I clawed at all the empty space around me. It was on my downward arc that Donnie caught me, twisted around with me in mid air and threw me back up again as he continued his own path. Once again I was rising high in the air before Mikey repeated the process. "Easy Vic, don't freak, just let yourself go limp." He told me before he threw me. Easy for him to say! This was some scary ass shit! Cris was agreeing with me on it if her quiet wails were any indication. Even the quick glimpses I caught of Marina showed that she was less than pleased at our current mode of travel.

Please don't ask me how they managed to juggle all three of us between them as they crossed the rooftops, because I can't even tell you how they did it. I was so focused on what they were doing that it wasn't until I calmed down a bit that I noticed we were being followed on the ground, by some very unfriendly bots. They took potshots at us when they could, but they guys were to quick for them. Everytime they got a round off we were already out of the line of fire. Didn't mean they quit trying though.

As scarey as this was, I was quickly adjusting to this method of rooftop running. Speed was our only chance here, I now knew that. We couldn't risk slowing them down the slightest bit with our extra weight. I also began to figure out this would go even faster if we'd quit trying to flap like birds every time one of them launched us. I began to relax and trust more in my family and with that came new challenges.

It was Raph who caught me this time and threw me back up. "Think quick!" Was all he told me as I left his arms. I instinctively knew what he wanted me to do as I closed in on a flagpole protruding from the side of a building. I adjusted myself in the air and came down on the thing feetfirst, crouching down as it bent under my weight. Then as it sprang back upwards, I pushed myself off with my legs and tucked myself in a forward spin as I cleared the street below. Leo met me in midair and pulled me close to him as he hit the next rooftop in a roll, then we were both back on our feet again, running side by side. Mikey and Cris came down almost at the same time we did and the others hit right after. We sped across the rooftop and launched ourselves into the air once again.

**-Turn south!- **Hide suddenly snapped in my head. **-The others finally decided to show up and we are all regrouping south of your current position.-**

I passed that along to Leo and he abruptly changed direction...in mid air. _That_ one scared the piss outta me. If It hadn't been for Donnie rebounding off a wall to catch me and redirect my flightpath I would have slammed into something.

We seemed to have thrown the various Cons and drones off of our trail because the shooting stopped, but Leo didn't let up as we kept going at that same pace. I have to admit, when you weren't getting shot at this was kinda fun.

Still we kept going, this time towards the sounds of a fight taking place in the direction we were heading. Not slowing the slightest. Even Cris by now had her concentration fully on what we were doing and her rooftop gliding became less frenzied and more smooth. Marina was just as quick to catch on as us and soon we were all three not just being thrown along, but even helping with the effort. Marina launched herself off a side of a building in a forward roll and came down on some kind of cable that spanned this alley, and she shot right back up again as it rebounded her like the flagpole did with me earlier. Leo met her this time and guided her towards the next rooftop with a midair push.

This time when we all hit, the guys didn't have to hold us. They began to just give us enough momentum to get us started and guided us in midair if we needed it, but we were doing a lot of it on our own now.

The biggest test came when we were closing in on our robotic freinds positions, and had to get by a line of Cons to get to them. "Line up!" Leo snapped as we ran. We ended up in a single file line with us having a turtle on either side. As we got closer to that last edge the turtles reached out and took our hands before we all launched off of the edge. Then as I went in the air I felt Leo and Mikey give my arms a very hard pull, shooting me far out in front of them. The others did the same for Marina and Cris and we found ourselves flying over to the line of Cons. I had no idea what they were aiming us towards because there was nothing out here, until it hit me the Cons themselves were the intended landing zone. Well shiiiiiit...

I wasn't sure exactly what the hell I was supposed to do here, but I twisted myself for a landing position anyway. Turns out, I had unknowingly put my faith in the bots as well. Hide knew we were coming, could tell from sensing it through me. I could only guess Leo knew that when he made this choice. There was no other way to explain the sudden incoming fire that took out the legs of the drones we were aiming for. We landed on their backs just as they started their forward fall, with the turtles dropping in right behind us, hold onto us as we used their fall to slow our momentum before the things crashed into the ground. We all quickly leapt off of them and ran like hell towards the friendly line ahead of us.

I took relief in the tall form of Prime as he turned his attention to more drones trying to come up on us from behind. He lead the others in a quick forward push, forcing them back as Epps came rolling up with a couple of his vehicles. "You are some crazy ass mother fuckers to be tryin' that shit!" He bellowed as the silly contraptions skidded to a halt, the gunners opening fire at something behind us.

"You know it!" Mikey happily chirped back. "Crazy is what we do best!"

"Just shut up and get the fuck on!"

Didn't have to tell me twice. I didn't even try for a seat, I just held onto the side as we pulled away before pulling myself up to the turret with the gunner. I held onto the frame of the vehicle as it spun back around, taking us to the line of Autobots and soldiers that were still firing on the group of Cons that were trying to close in. Once we were behind that line we all dismounted so our rides could worry about engaging the Cons again. As they sped back out Cris and Leo both hit the ground on their knees, Cris from fright and Leo from exhaustion.

I moved to him just as quick as Raph moved in on her. "You ok?" he asked her as he knelt down next to her trembling body.

"I'm fine, just friggin peachy." She told him sarcastically. "Just let me get this delayed heart attack out of the way and then I'll have a nervous breakdown and then everything will be all better. Why did we have to do that shit!" She then flared.

"Yup...she's fine." Mikey grinned.

I was more worried about Leo as he tried to catch his breath. He had obviously pushed himself harder than he should have. "Hey." He wearily looked at me as I knelt next to him. "I think I see a long nap in your future." I told him with a slight smile. "Been wanting to get a chance to bully you for a long time now."

"You're lucky I'm too tired to argue with you over it." He returned my smile, even if it was a tired one.

I just looked at him a moment, trying once again to reach him and tears welled up in my eyes when I couldn't. His hand reached out and brushed my cheek slightly, his own eyes full of anguish and frustration. "I know, dear heart. I feel the same way."

I blinked the tears away as Tony came walking up, Casey not far behind. "Hey buddy, I better give you a quick look over. Ratchet will have my hide if I don't."

"I'm fine Tony. Just...tired."

"Sorry Leo. Ratchet's orders takes priority over your pride." He grinned at Leo. Then we all ducked as a round went off nearby. "Though I really don't think this is the time to do it." Tony quickly amended.

"Biggest understatement of the day." Casey said as more rounds came in.

A moment later Hide was there, trying to cover us the best he could from the blasts even as he launched his own back in the mass of Cons. "What's the plan big guy?" I called up to him.

"Push them out of this town." Came the grim reply. "And take out as many as we are able in the process."

"Sounds an awful lot like a last stand." Casey mumbled.

"It won't be if I have anything to say about it." Hide rumbled in return.

I leaned in close to Leo as another wave of incoming rounds came in. "Well you better start talking then!" I told him.

"I think I will, my way." And he sent some grenades and artillery rounds downrange, taking out the first row of drones. Bee gave an impressed whistle at the display. Hide just shrugged.

"That the best you got old timer?" Sides asked him with a grin. "I say we bring the fight to them." And with that he dove forward, transformed and sped off towards the Cons.

"Idiot." Sunny mumbled...then did the same damn thing.

"Both of you are!" And there went Hide.

That unleashed the Autobot flood gate as they all got tired of hunkering down and went to deliver some up close and personal retribution. Raph stood back up from behind the rubble we were hunkered down behind, looking intent towards the oversized Wrestlemania match gone wrong.

Prime stopped that line of thought before he could act out on it. "No, my friend. You and your family have done and risked enough. Now it is our turn to take up the fight."

"Ah'll stay here with 'em, Boss Bot." Jazz said as he walked up. "Jus' incase a Con slips by."

"Very well." Prime agreed and he followed his Autobots. Most of the NEST troops followed right behind him.

"Will they be able to do it?" I asked Jazz as we watched the fight gain in ferocity.

"Ah dunno, but Ah can tell ya they gonna give it a good try." He turned his head to look down at us. "Did ya get their machine? Heard somethin' go up aftah Ah had ta withdraw."

"Yeah." Raph replied. "We got it. Well, Marina and Donnie did anyway."

Jazz just nodded before he looked back to where his comrades fought. "Figure out what it wuz s'pose tah do?"

"Something mental." Donnie answered. "I noticed that it gave off the same readings that I picked up in the cave base. I'm fairly sure it was in there when we went to bust Marina and Vicky out. And if you remember, Vicky couldn't communicate with us until we got inside of a certain radius."

"Actually it wasn't until we got inside if I remember right." Mikey spoke up.

"Same difference. I'm assuming they were still fine tuning the frequency to work inside of the machine instead of shooting outward." He was looking over his readings again as he talked. "Correction, if I'm understanding this right, it was actually made to go both ways. But it was more effective if you were on the inside of it..." He looked at Leo in shock. "You got the full force of it. To be totally honest...you shouldn't be able to function..."

"Doesn't say a lot about the idea then, does it?" Mikey smirked. "Stupid thing apparently didn't work for shit."

I just teared up as Leo looked at his brother with sadness on his face. "You're wrong Mikey. It did work."

"But you are fine. Still standing here, same as ever."

"No...he isn't." I whispered as a tear fell.

"Huh?"

"Our bond is gone." Leo finally told them.

You could have heard a pin drop in that uncomfortable silence as they all took that in. Tony was pretty much the only one who looked confused, wasn't sure if anyone told him about it.

"Are you sure?" Mikey finally stammered out.

"Yes I'm sure you dolt!" Leo flared at him, more angry about what had been done I think than at his brother.

"Can it be fixed?" Marina asked, then looked up at Jazz. "Can something like that be fixed?"

"Ahm not tha one ta ask." He said quietly. "More Ratchet's line o' work."

"God damn Bishop." Raph growled. "When I get my fucking hands on him..."

Leo just sighed. "Nothing we can do about it now." He said as he got back to his feet for the first time since we rejoined our friends. He still didn't look too hot, but he was slowly recovering already. If that had been me, I'd still be too tired to move if I had gone through all of that.

I stood back up next to him and together we looked over to where the fight was still raging. It was fierce, there was no doubt about that. The drones themselves didn't seem to bother the Bots much. They were only really effective in a large number advantage, and that was being quickly wiped out. The Cons themselves were a bit harder to take down it seemed to me. There was now more than a few nasty fights going on out there. Now I can see why Prime had held Raph back, there was no room for us in this one. Due to the intensity of it all we very well could end up squished out there. Just because in the confined space of the town, hand to hand was more effective than shooting at each other. By this point I was wondering if there was even going to be a town left when this was over.

I winced a little as I watched Hide slam a Con, Brawl I think...into a building then turned and shot the head off of a drone that tried to come up from behind before spinning back to take on the Con again as he stumbled, snarling, out of the wreckage of the building. Hide just shot him and sent him flying into another building.

"Ironhide, you must make an effort to keep the collateral damage down. We are trying to return this town to the humans." Prime admonished him.

"Sorry Prime, I just couldn't help myself."

"No he's not." Mirage said as he popped into view before tackling another Con, I didn't know this one, sending them both rolling down the street, crushing any cars that happened to be in the way like a giant steamroller. Had car pancakes all over the place by the time they were done.

Sunny and Sides were breathtaking to watch. Their bond allowing them to read each other's intentions as soon as they were made. The result being this beautiful but destructive dance as they tore through the ranks. More than once Sunny would start on an opponent only to swiftly turn and dodge out of the way as Sides came in with a blade to finish off the distracted target, or Sides would duck and Sunny would already be ready with a shot lined up.

My hand sought Leo's as we watched that. We had shared something like that...and now it was gone. I still couldn't wrap my head around that fact and I looked up at him again, and again my own feeling echoed on his face as he looked back down at me. "Oh...Leo..." I finally broke as I started to cry. Why, why did this have to happen? We were just starting to fix the rift between us...now this...

He pulled me against his plastron and I felt his cheek rest against my head. "Dear one...I...I wish I could find the words to comfort you, wish I could tell you something..." He reached out his hand and took mine, running his thumb over my ring. "But at least you still have this, it's not much...but it's something of me that will always be with you."

Jazz tilted his head a little at looked down at Donnie. "Them rings mean a lot ta you folks, huh?"

"Yes." Donnie looked at Marina a little sadly himself. "It's the best we can do for them, but that doesn't mean we don't wish for more for them."

"Ah see..." He said thoughtfully, then let the matter drop as he turned his attention back to the commotion. "Looks like things comin' to a head ova there."

"More like coming to a serious ass whoopin'" Raph corrected.

By now the Bots had made their way to the Con 'inner circle' and Prime was seriously going toe to toe with Megatron. It was shocking to watch them go at it. The sheer potential for destruction was...yeah just...wow. When they came together it was with the force of countless years of hate. Sparks flew as their blows hit, the ground shook even at this distance when one of hit the ground. The struggle was almost unbelievable. Again and again they went at it. Only one other time have I seen a fight with such enormous meaning behind the actual blows. One other time have I seen two come together with such emotion. One full of anger and hate, the other trying to keep that anger and hate from hurting others.

"They remind me of you and...him..." I told Leo softly, still wrapped up in his arms.

"Who? Bishop?"

"No...your counterpart." I clarified.

He didn't say anything else as we watched Prime gain the upper hand and slam an axe blade deep into the side of the Con leader. Megatron stumbled back, his hands covering his wound and Prime kept stalking in. He was about to deliver the killing blow, the blow that would end the suffering of countless future victims. But once again Soundwave looked out for his master as he fired at Prime, distracting him so Megatron could slip away. Once the smoke cleared from Soundwave's attack, Megatron was gone.

"Son of a bitch..." Raph mumbled. "He's about as slippery as Bishop!"

Jazz just shook his head. "Yup. Been tryin' to extinguish that spark for a millennia, numerous of them, ...and just canna get that one."

Now with their leader gone, the backbone seemed to dissolve on the other Cons as they began to flee the fight and soon the bot's were the only ones left standing on the now destroyed street amidst the wreckage of now useless drones and a few now dead Decepticons.

The place looked like hell. But once again they had all managed to survive somehow and as one they turned and walked back towards us, a few of them limping and holding their own injuries but they were all alive thank God. We then came out in the open ourselves. Didn't have to worry about hiding the guys here, wasn't really anyone here to notice them. This area was deserted now besides us and the Bots.

"Wow, you guys make a bigger mess than we do." Mikey grinned.

"Never fails." Mirage replied.

"Gotta give the clean up crew something to do." Sides grinned.

"Not the point, idiot." Hide told him.

"This from the one who was doing as much damage as the twins were." Chromia sighed as she rolled her eyes.

Hide managed to look a bit sheepish about that.

Sides had walked over to Cris then and knelt down next to her. "You, I have to admit, showed some serious bravery out there today. Not bad...for a squishy." He grinned at her.

"Me? What did I do?" She asked him confused. "I was sitting here with them the whole time during the fight."

His grin got even wider. "Did pretty good for a femme who is scared of heights. When Hide told us what you were doing and to keep an optic out for you, I was half expecting to have to go scrape you up from the ground."

Cris turned and glared at all of us. "All right! Which one of you asswipes told him?"

Mikey started backing away from her, just as Sides pointed to him. "I...uh...I think I heard someone calling me..." He said before swiftly walking away.

Cris grumbled something before she pulled out her hanbo. "Get back here you damn blabbermouth!" She yelled and ran after him, that of course made Mikey start to haul ass.

"You did that on purpose." Sunny then said to Sides as we all watched her chase him around, throwing shit at him when she could.

"Yup, I sure did." Sides grinned again.

"Idiot." Sunny mumbled.

Sides just shrugged. "Nobody is perfect."


	34. Chapter 34

**-I don't get it.-** Casey confessed as we rode back to the base. There was a long line of Bots in a convoy heading back, with once again a few in Prime's trailer for Ratchet to deal with later, and my family was once again scattered all along that convoy in different vehicles. Casey was riding this time with Mikey in Bee.

**-There's a surprise.-** Raph replied from, surprisingly, Sideswipe. He and Cris were riding in the silver Corvette.

**-I'm serious Raph.-** And for once he did sound it as he kept talking. **-I don't understand the connection here. The Cons make this mind machine thingie, and we know Bishop is dabbling in Frankenstein's lab again. What is the connection between the two for them to be pairing up?-**

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this." I mumbled as I looked out of Hide's passenger window. "But he's right. There has to be a connection there between the two or they wouldn't be working together."

"I'm thinking the same thing too." Leo replied, something he didn't have to tell me before, I used to be able to feel what he was thinking. I just let out a soft sigh as I watched the landscape pass by.

**-Not sure we will have all the answers to that until we have all of the information. And the only one we know that was in there was Leo.- **Donnie said from Jazz.

Leo let out his own sigh, he knew what was being asked of him. "I'm not sure what I can tell you Donnie."

**-Anything you can about how it worked. Every little detail might be important here.-** There was a slight pause. **-Leo, I know this isn't...easy...for you to deal with right now, but we still have Bishop floating around out there and you are the only one who may know what he wants, or what the Cons were trying to do.-**

"I understand Donnie, just not sure if I can put it into words." Leo paused himself a moment, letting out another, tired sounding, sigh. I frowned slightly at that. He seriously needed some sleep. "I felt...something...I don't know how to describe it any better. Something was trying to come in, trying to take over, or take me out."

**-Like it was trying to erase you?-** Blaster chimed in. I was a little surprised at that, I thought only the ones in the convoy were privy to this conversation, not the ones back at base.

"That is actually a very accurate way of putting it." Leo admitted. "When you put it like that, and add the hints Bishop left me about holding my memories of everything I knew close, it is very close to what I was feeling."

**-So...is this thing like a mind eraser then?-** Mikey asked.

**-Startin' tah sound tha way.-** Jazz said grimly.

**-Yay-** Mikey said flatly.

**-You should be worried.-** Raph told him. **-Not much upstairs in your head to begin with. So, any ideas on what this thing is for? I mean what are they trying to do here?-**

**-I have a few suspicions, but I need to talk to Caitlin when we get back. I might need her opinion on the matter in case I'm overlooking something.-** Donnie replied.

**-Caitlin?- **Mikey asked.** -What would Caitlin know about this?-**

**-About the machine itself, nothing. But I'm wondering if that was just one phase of something bigger.-**

**-Sounds complicated.- **Mikey groaned.

**-When is it ever _not_ complicated when Bishop is involved?-** Raph sighed.

**-Good point.-**

**-Let me think on it some more.-** Donnie cut in again. **-I've got a feeling this isn't over yet.-**

The rest of the trip was uneventful after that statement, just normal chatter and bantering, and we arrived back at base just as the sun was going down. The usual shuffle of broke bots go to Ratchet and the not broke bots hit the washrack ensued. While Will and Epps went off to deal with the current round of explanations on why a medium sized town got pretty much flattened.

Leo tried to sneak off but the med-bot wasn't having that. "Get your aft into med-by. Now." He glared down at the turtle as he said it. "I heard what happened and I'm not letting you run around before I give you a full checkup."

Leo just sighed and followed the line of broken bots to Ratchet's room of horrors. He was learning. He knew by not not to argue with the bigger than him bot.

I just smiled slightly at that as I turned to go find the kids, but before I could get very far Ratchet's call to me made me turn back around. He walked over to me and knelt down, a habit they all started to pick up on it seemed. "Hide told me what happened. And I need to know, are you feeling anything different?"

"You mean besides not having him there?" I asked him sadly.

"Yes."

"No, Ratchet. Other than that everything feels the same to me."

"No sense of, how should I put this...longing for him? The need to have him there?"

"Of course. I miss the connection."

"Not what I meant." He grumbled. "Fragging useless human vocabulary... I know you miss having him there. But are you feeling a loss. A sensation of...arrgh...pulling towards him? Like trying to find something you lost?"

I looked up curiously at him. "Now that you mentioned it like that... No. I don't feel those things at all. It feels like he's in the same house, but in another room with the door closed, and I can't open that door."

His eyes narrowed a bit at that as he thought it over. "Interesting."

"What?"

"Don't get your hopes up, I need more information from him and I want to look at Donatello's readings, but I'm thinking the bond may still be there. He just can't access it somehow."

Even though he warned me not to get my hopes up, that tidbit made my heart leap in my chest. "Can...can you help him?"

"I don't know. I've never came across something like this in one of you organic life forms before. Let me fully examine everything and I will be able to tell you more."

It wasn't much, but it was all I could get. I just nodded and this time when I turned away he let me go. He had others that needed his help and I did have my own responsibilities to tend too. I just hoped it would be good news later.

.

.

I looked up at Ratchet with tears in my eyes. It was late now, very late. Ratchet had saved Leo for last to be able to thoroughly look him over, and the news he finally gave me wasn't what I wanted to hear. "I'm sorry, Vicky. There's nothing I can do. If he were one of us, I think I might be able to help him. But with his structure being so different, I can't just go in and rewire him. I did try, but nothing I can do on him seems to work."

I just nodded quietly as I tried to hold back tears once again, not wanting to wake the now sleeping Leo. Wasn't sure what Ratchet did to bully him to sleep, but he needed it more than I needed to cry.

"Go get some rest yourself." Ratchet told me in an unusually gentle voice. Gentle from him anyway. "You're about as tired as he is." Like I could, but I just nodded and turned to leave anyway. You learn real quick not to backtalk Ratchet. As much as I wanted to stay here, I knew he wouldn't let me.

I don't remember the walk to my room, only that I tried to keep myself together the whole way. I entered the room and closed the door softly behind me before I began to strip out of my gear and clothing. I was tired, dirty and sore among other things. I was eyeing that bathroom door and longing for a nice, hot, shower before I settled down for what was going to be, more than likely, another sleepless night.

I came out of the steamy bathroom, wrapped up in towels and made my way across the room and sat in the chair by the window before I took the towel from my hair and began to brush the uncooperative strands. I hated trying to get dressed with my hair wet like this. I seriously needed to figure out something to do with it as I struggled to get it straightened back out, flinging water everywhere as I did. No amount of towel drying ever seemed to get it dry enough to keep it from dripping. I just grumbled as I worked the brush carefully through, seriously having a conversation with myself about chopping it off as the water began to drip out of the bottom of the cluster of hair I held in my hand. See, _this_ is why I don't like getting dressed until after I'm done with my hair. It gets _every_thing wet.

A good thing about this unruly mop on my head was the fact that it kept me busy. Too busy to think right now. But eventually I finished brushing it and placed the brush on the nightstand. Now I was left with nothing to do as I waited for my hair to dry and my eyes wandered out the window, taking in the quiet night.

"I wish you would stop talking about cutting it." Leo said quietly from behind me. I turned to see him leaning against the wall by the door, arms crossed like he usually does. He was still dressed in only his shorts, the rest of the gear having already removed because Ratchet had insisted he could not rest properly with "all of those primitive contraptions" on. "I've grown quite fond of it."

"How long have you been there?" I asked him.

He smiled a soft smile at me. "Long enough to see you arguing with it."

"And you didn't even think to come offer to help?" I asked him, raising my brow.

He was quiet for a moment as he watched me, then sighed in frustration. "I...I wasn't sure if I would be welcome. I didn't mean to catch you just coming out of the shower, and when I realized that's where you had just been..."

"You got scared I might throw something at you?"

"Well, no, but considering the last time I was here...I wasn't sure where we stood right now."

I tilted my head at him a little. "So, why didn't you quietly slip out then?"

His blue eyes met mine, and held them. "Because I missed you. I snuck out of med-bay when Ratchet wasn't paying attention, just so I could come see you."

I laughed a little at that. "You're going to get hit with a wrench for that."

He shrugged. "So be it." He still stayed where he was, leaning against that wall, but his eyes were speaking more than his mouth was. He wanted so much to come closer but wasn't sure how it would be received.

I let out a deep breath as I leaned back into my chair, once again looking out the window. "Leo, you asked me if I trusted you." I looked back at him just to see him nod in reply. "I told you that I did, and I meant it. The problem never was you. It's always been me. You were right, I kept letting my fears get the best of me until it got to the point I couldn't work around them. And with that I lost all faith in myself."

"No, dear one. It wasn't just you. I've been holding onto my own fears and doubts. I tried so hard to help you with yours that I let mine go unchecked." He still didn't move from that wall, still wasn't sure where we were at right now. I just watched him quietly as he kept talking. "Neither one of us did very well with the issue. But at least you were completely open about yours, where I tried to hide mine from you."

"Why did you?"

This time he looked out the window next to me as he thought about how to answer. "Because, you count on me so much to be strong for you and I thought that perceived weakness would just add more to your burden."

"Oh, Leo. Nothing would ever change the way I see you." I told him as I stood up. "I know the burden you carry on your shoulders, have always known. I know how you try so hard to be strong for the others, for me. I also know that even the strongest have doubts. We...we don't have the bond anymore, but I don't need it to at least calm one major doubt clouding your mind right now." And then I unwrapped the towel and let it fall to the floor as I looked into his eyes.

His eyes took on a hungry, wanting look as his breath caught in his throat. He swallowed hard once as he tried to restrain himself, but that fight was lost almost as soon as he started it. He was across the room in an instant and I found myself wrapped up in his arms, with his lips on mine. I pulled back from that kiss and looked up at him, my hand caressing his cheek. "I'm just sorry it took me so long to figure things out."

"Not everyone can be as wise as me, I guess." He said with a teasing smile.

"Not cocky at all, are you?" I smiled up at him.

"Apparently not as much as you were earlier. Heard about your little escapade in the woods."

"Oh..." I blushed and little and he laughed as he pulled me to his chest.

"I love you dear one." He chuckled as his arms wrapped around me again.

We stayed like that for a few moments, me just taking in his warmth in as he held me close. Both of us trying to get as close as we could to each other, trying to make up for something that was missing between us.

But it just wasn't enough, the hole was still there and I couldn't help reaching out for him again. This time though I felt something, something very faint. Very much like the minnow on the edge of the pond feeling I had before. I pulled back from him and looked up into his own shocked eyes, searching. Searching for something I couldn't explain. Then as quick as it came, it was gone.

Leo's eyes filled with frustration then, and anger. Anger that something had been taken from him that he so dearly needed. But something that had made itself known to still be there. It had gone, and he refused to let it go again so he did the only thing he could do to try and bring it back.

His lips met mine again, and this time the kiss was harder. He let out a slight, anger filled growl as his lips crushed mine. His hand cupping me behind my head to pull me even closer. His tongue demanded entry and I complied with it, opening myself up to let him in and he hungerly entered.

I was a little shocked over his roughness, but returned that kiss just as eagerly anyway. Wrapping my own arms around his neck as we pushed ourselves as close to each other as we could.

Suddenly he broke from my lips and began to nuzzle my neck, his usual gentle nibbles and soft bites were now more demanding, possessive even. I let my head fall back as his mouth continued it's ministrations, and when his hand slid across my body to take it's own ownership hold on my breast, a whimper of pleasure escaped my lips.

His other arm still held me close to him as he brought his fingertips together on my nipple, and it was that arm that kept me standing as I arched back, causing me to leave the reach of his lips. "Leo..." I breathed at him as he pulled me back up. "God I've missed you."

He didn't answer with words but another, almost feral, sounding growl came out of his throat. His eyes still had that anger in them and there was a slight snarl on his lips as he picked me up and carried me to the bed.

I searched his face, his eyes, trying to find out what was going on inside of his head. Once again that faint flitter came across, but slightly stronger this time before it vanished again. "Damn it." He growled before he laid me surprisingly gently down on the bed, considering his current, slightly confusing behavior. Confusing to me anyway. This wasn't the Leo I knew when making love. The Leo I knew was soft, gentle, loving. Not so abrupt and forward. Maybe I should be a little worried about this change but I didn't feel that way. I trusted him, fully. I somehow knew it wasn't me that was causing this harsher side of him.

He removed his shorts and joined me in the bed, his eyes searching mine as he leaned over me. "Leo...what's wrong?" I just finally had to ask him.

"It's there, I know it's there...something keeps blocking me from it." For a moment his eyes softened, then that hard glint came back. "And I refuse to let it any longer." He growled out before meeting me in another crushing kiss.

His hands moved over me, coaxing me. Rough, but at the same time gentle as he tried to be the lover I knew but also had to fight whatever it was he was fighting. His frustrated growls took the place of the soft churrs that normally accompanied my whimpers and moans. I gave him what I could, let him have what he needed and still it didn't seem like enough.

Now I could feel it, I now knew it was there. Slowly becoming stronger as our lovemaking became more heated. A wall was blocking him, holding him back and I could feel him struggling to break through that wall.

He thrust into me, hard. I threw my head against the pillow in both pleasure of feeling him and shock at how hard he went in. He kept up that hard pace, leaning over me with his palms planted on the mattress on both sides of my head. Again and again he almost rammed into me as his anger took control, barely controlling himself enough to keep from hurting me.

When I came, I came hard. My body tensing up around his thrusting member as I moaned out my release. He didn't. His lips were curled up into a snarl as he kept pumping. His angry growls gaining in ferocity. He was so close to breaking through that wall but lacked something, something he couldn't find in himself to break that barrier and frustration began to build in him again along with his anger.

I looked into those wild eyes. Eyes that were trying so hard to fight this fight and were starting to tear up from the emotions he was trying to deal with, on his own. He was trying to beat this on his own and it wasn't working. I knew he needed help, could feel it inside me.

This time when I came, just as hard as the first time, I redirected the feeling. I closed my eyes as it began to build and channeled it to that wall. Let the pleasure I was feeling from him slam into that already frail wall and threw my own emotions against it. My anger, my frustration at what had happened. But most of all, my love for him which was the strongest of all of those emotions.

I screamed out into the room as my body arched back, wave after wave hit me and I threw it right back to that wall that was weakening, cracking...and then it finally broke. Our emotions that we were feeling hit each other in another massive collision with nothing left there anymore to separate us. That intense emotional bonding sent me again into a pleasure filled ecstasy and this time he came with me. I held onto him, riding out the latest set of waves running through my body before I collapsed against the bed, utterly spent.

Leo had collapsed over me, now resting on his elbows, his forehead resting on mine. I looked into his eyes as I fought for breath. The anger was gone, the frustration was gone and they were filled with tears. And I knew they were tears of joy, because I could feel it. I could feel _him_. I barely managed a smile at him before my head rolled to the side and my overtired body finally shut down.

But still it wasn't the same. I noticed another change. Even as I slept, I could feel him which had never happened before. His presence wrapped around me, holding me and it seemed as if he refused to let me go. After what we had been through, I didn't blame him one bit.


	35. Chapter 35

It was the strange combination of warm and cold that woke me. One half of my body was trying to shiver while the other had something warm and heavy draped over it. I wearily opened my eyes to see Leo had passed out half on top of me, with an arm draped over me and resting on my other side and his legs were tangled into mine. His head rested right next to mine and I smiled a tired smile at his calm features.

Still half asleep I gently reached out and touched the bond, still not quite believing it was there. I smiled again at what I was feeling. He was dreaming. And whatever he was dreaming about filled him with content. I found that if I wanted too, I could push further, to see what he was actually seeing in his sleep, but I didn't want to risk waking him.

The room was still dark with no signs of morning even being remotely close. Must not have slept too long, but long enough for the desert cool night air to sap the warmth from the room. I shivered again and this time a set of blue eyes slowly opened at the movement. And as soon as he did, my mind was flooded with his presence. I had to blink back the tears as I clearly felt him, stronger than before if that was even possible.

After taking a few seconds to fully wake up himself, his head suddenly shot up off of the pillow and he looked me over, concern now filtering across the bond. "Dear one, I am so sorry... I didn't hurt you did I?"

I just smiled and shook my head wearily. "No Leo. And even if you did, the result was well worth it. I'm just tired." To reinforce my point I reached out again towards him, letting my mind softly reassure his that I really was fine. Relief came flooding back towards me as his eyes went from concern to something softer.

"Still, I'm sorry Vicky." He said as he pulled me closer against him. "I could have hurt you."

"But you didn't, so quit worrying about it." I firmly told him. "Don't make me yell at you, I'm too tired."

He laughed a soft laugh as his arms tightened around me. "Yes ma'am."

I let out a quiet, content sigh as I settled into his arms. God I had missed him so much, so very much. "Leo?"

"Yes dear one?" He answered before he kissed my hair.

"Let's not fight like that again." I told him.

"Vicky, I don't think we have a reason to anymore."

"I don't care if we have a reason to or not, the damn make up sex with you is hard to keep up with."

He laughed again.

We laid there quietly for awhile after that, not talking but letting our minds wander around freely. I was poking around up in there when I hit across something he never really let me see before. I hit his own hidden dark closet he tried so hard before to hide. His own fears, doubts, worries. They were all open to me. I was a little shocked to be honest, shocked about how much he actually fears.

I shifted my head so I could look up at him and saw his calm gaze already watching me as I took it all in. The fear of failing. Making the wrong choice that would get one of us hurt, the worry everytime we go out that one of us might not make it back. His constant fear for the children's safety, my safety, the safety of the others. For the first time I truly understood what he goes through, what he feels, when something goes horribly wrong. I had felt it for myself when he went missing, but it was nothing compared to what he feels. And for the first time he was fully sharing all of it with me. "I don't want to hide anything anymore from you, dear one. I shouldn't have done it in the first place. Maybe if I didn't, if I had let you see everything then you wouldn't have felt the need to lash out at me in the first place. It's hard for you to understand something if I don't let you see it."

I didn't answer him, but I understood him a bit better I think. It was just a part of who he is, always trying to look out for others to the point he neglects himself. Who would help him with his fears? Sure, I know his brothers try the best they can if they see Leo struggling with something, but for them to even notice it was hard enough to do. What ate at him deep on the inside that they didn't, I didn't, even know about? Apparently more than we thought. Leo wasn't as perfect as everyone thought he was, he just hid his imperfections from everyone. Until now.

I really didn't know what to say to him. I wanted to comfort him the way he always does me, but didn't know how to go about doing that. I was thinking it over when his fingertips brushed over my cheek, drawing my attention back to him. "You being here is all the comfort I need." He told me gently before kissing me. Not the harsh, demanding kisses from earlier, but the soft, tender kisses I was so used to getting from him.

I wrapped my arm around his neck and returned that kiss as his hand slid over my naked body.

**-For the love of Primus! How is a mech supposed to get a decent recharge in? Didn't you two get enough of that earlier!? You should take it easy on her reptile, she still is recovering from the forced stasis you put her into. Didn't know you fleshies could overload like that.- **Leo groaned as I turned beet fucking red. I had completely forgotten about that in the heat of the moment earlier. **-I noticed.-** I blushed even harder.

_'Couldn't you just turn your comm off or something?'_ Leo grumbled at him.

**-I tried you dolt! The femme pushes strong when she feels, and she was feeling a lot about an hour ago.-**

Damn it! I wasn't coming out of this room ever again, for the simple reason being because I was blushing so damn hard I was sure it was going to stain my skin red.

Hide chuckled a little before he spoke again. **-I won't tell, or share the audio files, I promise.-**

_'You're not helping!'_ I told him.

He laughed even harder before he grew quiet again.

.

.

At least I was under the covers this time when the next intruder came barging in. Not in my head this time though.

"Leo!" Mikey yelled as the door crashed open, startling me awake. "Are you in here?"

I groaned as I pulled the pillow over my head. The damn sun wasn't even up yet! C'mon!

"No." Leo replied sarcastically as he sat up, readjusting the covers around us. "I'm not."

"Dude! Ratchet is looking for you. He's seriously pissed at you for slipping out on him. Says you need to rest and not be out trying to right all the wrongs in the world."

"I _was_ resting, until you came barging in."

"Is he in there?" We then heard the med-bot in question almost roar from the hallway.

"Oh Lord..." Leo sighed.

"I warned you that you were going to get hit with a wrench." I told him amused as I came out from under the pillow.

He just rolled his eyes.

"You!" Ratchet's holoform bellowed right after it popped into view in the dark room. "Who told you that you could wander off like that?"

"Took it upon myself." Leo told him, slightly annoyed by now. I just chuckled.

"I refuse to have my patients wandering around whenever they feel like it! You don't decide when you are able to leave my care, I decide that!"

"I had something to fix!" Leo snapped back at him. I winced slightly at that, half expecting to having to duck out of the way of a flying wrench. If I wasn't still bareass naked, I would have gotten out of bed and moved.

"You two talk it out finally?" Mikey cut off the spluttering Ratchet.

"Yes Mikey." Leo told him in a calmer one. "And I suppose I should thank you for helping her see what was really bothering her. I should be surprised that it was you, but for some reason I'm not."

Mikey just shrugged. "Seemed pretty obvious to me. But then, I wasn't the one with the emotional roller coaster ride going on in my head at the time."

Ratchet had grown quiet in that short exchange, eyeballing us both intently. "Something else happened tonight, didn't it?"

"You can't hide anything from him." Leo said ruefully.

"Doesn't look like it." I agreed with a smile.

"Well?" The med-bot demanded.

"The bond is back." I said simply.

"How did you manage to do that?" He asked.

"Don't worry about how we managed it." Leo flustered.

Ratchet took in my blushing face, state of undress and Leo's glower and it must have clicked. "Ah. I see. Interfacing very well may have been what was needed here, the raw emotions shared during overload was more than likely enough to bring the barrier down."

"Oh good God!" I groaned. If this kept up the whole base would know what Leo and I did in here tonight.

"So you mean all they had to do was bump pelvisis to fix it?" Mikey asked Ratchet.

"Mikey!" I protested.

"It seems that way." Ratchet agreed, ignoring my embarrassment. "I personally wouldn't have thought about it myself. We have more practical ways of fixing things. But a strong overload seems to have worked."

"Huh, I guess good sex does fix everything."

"OUT!" Leo finally roared. "Just get out! And the next one who comes barging in here is going to be dodging my fucking shurikans for a whole God damn week!"

Mikey squeaked and shot out the door. When Leo started spitting out fucks and damns it was past time to go. Ratchet glared at him a moment, and Leo glared right back. Then to my surprise, Ratchet grinned. "First time in a long while someone had the bearings to stand up to me. Very well, I will let you off of the hook this time. Just make sure you both rest."

"We were trying to do that." Leo told him flatly.

Ratchet just shook his head before his holoform slipped out of sight again.

Leo mumbled a few more choice words he didn't get to yell before he settled back down again, pulling me close to him. He eventually calmed down though and the rest of the night passed with no further interruptions.

.

.

The sun was well up by the time I blinked my eyes open again, and this time I found myself alone in the bed. Leo was already up and out of the room.

I struggled to sit up, trying to clear the last remains of sleep out of my eyes. I was stiff and sore this morning and I moved around with a lot of groaning going on. But I smiled through it all. Finally, things were back to they way they should be between us.

I pulled my hair up into a tight bun and took another shower, wasn't going to deal with _that_ water sloppy mess again right now, and I have to admit I did feel a lot better when I stepped back out.

Once dried off and dressed I began to look for my wayward wandering family members and found some of them outside by the playground area the Bots had made. "Hey...look. Lazy ass finally got up." Cris said as I approached.

I just rolled my eyes at her as I sat on that wobbly contraption of a bench. I looked out to see Thane playing with Lavi and Ty on the slide. "Where are Dennis and Amy?"

"Not sure." She admitted. "Leo came and got them about an hour ago, so where ever he is you will find them I suppose."

"Training probably." I guessed.

She gave me a sideways glance as she leaned back into the bench, something obviously bothering her. "You ok?"

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

She sighed as she stretched her legs out and crossed them at the ankles. "Honestly, because you haven't been yourself the last few days. Then, well, yesterday happened."

I turned my head back to her and gave her a small smile. "Everyone was worried about it I'm noticing."

She snorted. "Have to be pretty fucking blind if you didn't notice it before now. That was some pretty fucked up shit you two went through."

"Yeah..." I sighed as I looked back to the children. "It was. We talked a little about it last night."

She snorted again, this time in amusement. "So that's where he ran off to. Should have guessed. Ratchet woke us up looking for him."

I just shook my head with a smile. "He didn't seem very happy when he finally found Leo. I guess he's not used to his patients slipping out on him."

"They are usually too smart to try that stunt." She paused for a moment. "Well?"

"Well what?"

She glared at me. "Stop dodging around the subject. Did you two finally get it all straightened out?"

"Nosy." I grumped at her. "Yes, we did."

Her eyes narrowed at me suspiciously. "You fixed all of that with just one little talk? I know you two well enough to know not even Leo can fix it that quick."

"Maybe it's because we didn't use very many words." I finally told her.

"Say what?" She looked confused. Then it dawned on her as she looked back at me and I couldn't hold back the smile. "It's back?"

I just nodded my reply.

"Well...holy shitballs."

"Remind me to never convert to your religion." I dryly told her. "You got some weird holy relics there." She just laughed.

It was at that point my little ones noticed I was up and they came running over to tell me good morning. I spent a pleasant few hours with the twins, playing on the playground, ate lunch with them, you know...Mommy stuff. It was when I was putting them down for naps in their little beds Ratchet had set up in a quiet corner of med-bay, yes he still insisted the kids still sleep there, that Tony came looking for me.

"Hey Vic, Donnie asked me to track you down."

I sighed as I looked at my twins, feeling a little guilty. Once again our lifestyle came in between us. "All right. Thank you Tony."

"No problem. I'll watch them for you." He smiled down at my drowsy kiddos. "I'm actually growing fond of the little stinkers."

"Kids are a wonderful thing to have." I agreed, then I grinned at him. "I might steal you away from Will when this is all over with. You do really well with them and I'm sure Caitlin would love the help."

He just laughed as I turned away to go see what the genius wanted.

I found Donnie, along with the rest of my family, even Caitlin who usually wasn't present during these discussions, in the control room. Will and Epps were there too, along with Sally, Prime, Hide and Jazz.

"There she is." Donnie said as I walked in. "Was starting to wonder if you got lost."

"No," I answered "was just having a hard time pulling myself away from the twins." I sat down on the edge of a control panel near where Leo was leaning against the wall, yup, you guessed it, arms crossed. "Seriously thinking of taking a break from adventuring for awhile after this. It's bad when you miss the kids but you see them everyday."

"I can relate to that." Will murmured.

"So, what's up?" I asked. "Megatron stomping around trying to pancake another town?"

"I wish." Epps said. "Then we would at least know where the fucker is."

"Caitlin and I put our heads together, and came up with a possible motive on what's going on here." Donnie answered my question.

"Oh yay." Casey said. "And here I thought we were here for a tea party."

Donnie just glared at him for a moment before he spoke again. "Anyway, after looking back through the information we got from Bishop and what I picked up from the machine I decided to throw a couple of theories together. But so far only one of them is turning out to be the most realistic option."

"I'm almost too scared to ask." Raph muttered.

"Well, spit it out." Epps told Donnie. "Let's hear your thoughts on how they plan to destroy humanity as we know it."

"First off, I'll start with the machine. From what I can gather, Blaster's description of a mind eraser comes pretty close. Somehow they came up with something that wipes out any conscious thought, leaving behind an unthinking husk of what the person used to be."

"Great, they are trying to make zombies." Mikey groaned.

"Pretty much, except without the unending hunger. There is a problem with that however, the thing wipes out too much. Not only does it take out your thoughts and memories, but it also shuts down the commands your brain sends to your body to keep it functioning. And when that happens everything starts shutting down and decaying."

"Makes sense, since they are effectively brain dead." I said.

"Exactly." Donnie agreed. "This is where Bishop comes in. His contribution to this scheme is altering the bodies to withstand the brain shutdown."

"Say wha?" Jazz said disbelievingly.

"Form the way it looks, he is trying to use CNA and combine it with DNA to create a life form he can program. If he manages that, he can set coding inside the subject to keep it functioning on a basic level, then add whatever he wants later on down the line."

"Is that even possible?" Cris asked.

"Normally, I would say no." Caitlin spoke up. "Just because the human brain doesn't work that way. But Donnie seems to think that the machine works by interfering with the slight electric pulses that exist in the brain. We all give off electricity, just not enough to light a light bulb if you stick a finger on it. It's how our DNA set it up. The downside is that it is very fragile, if you mess with it you could very well end up with the brain dead scenario Vicky pointed out. But if you add CNA into the mix, which is programmable, the chance is good that they may have something to work with."

"Son of a bitch..." Casey said quietly.

"What in the world are they going to use these hybrids for?" Will asked just as stunned.

"Anything they want." Donnie said grimly. "Slaves, servants, or in Bishop's case he'd get that superior army he's been trying for years to develop. What ever they can program them to do."

"This must not be allowed." Prime finally spoke up. "If this is indeed the scenario we are facing, we must turn all of our efforts into stopping it."

Sally's eyes had narrowed as she took it all in. "I think it's beyond time to shut Bishop down. I'm probably overstepping my authority here, but since upstairs isn't in the full loop of things I'll have to risk the ass chewing. Jazz," She turned her attention to the small Autobot "I'm going to need your help and probably Blaster's as well."

"Whatcha need, lil Lady?"

"Your computer expertise. It's time to put something together and let the president see exactly what his alien invasion advisor has really been up too." She sighed as she shook her head. "It's a shame really, he should be working with us to deal with the Cons. Not helping them."

"He doesn't care." Leo told her. "All aliens are in his line of fire. The only reason he is working with them, I almost guarantee you, is so that he can use whatever they come up with against both sides. We've discussed this before, he will start world war three to cleanse the earth of all of them."

"I guarantee you, if he comes across my path again he will regret his choice in the matter." Hide rumbled. "That promise I fully intend to keep. When I am done with him there will be no need for the Earth Protection Force."

"That should make a lot of taxpayers happy." I smiled up at the big bot.

"Not to mention a whole lot of kiddos can sleep safe in their beds knowing the big bad Bishop monster won't be out to get them." Mikey quipped.

"I do enjoy these acts of public service every once in awhile, when it conveniences me." Hide grinned at us.

"So we got it all figured out now?" Mikey asked "Sally strips Bishop of his funding, we look for the goons and let Hide strip Bishop of his breathing capabilities when we find him."

"Findin' 'em is always tha issue tho." Jazz said.

"Then we better start looking." Leo said.

"Like we haven't tried that before." Donnie mumbled.

"And we will keep trying." Leo told him. "Do whatever you have to do Donnie, I want him found."

"All right Leo." Donnie sighed. "I'll see what I can do."


	36. Chapter 36

I walked into the med-bay after the meeting to see Ratchet and Jolt busy with Sunny and Sdes, both of them pretty messed up. And he had them both shut down the way it looked.

"What happened?" I curiously asked.

"Fraggin pain in my aft twins decided to have another one of their petty fights." He grumbled in reply before returning to his work.

"That happen a lot?" I quietly asked Tony as I walked over to where the twins were still sleeping. Didn't want to bother Ratchet, he was pissed as it was.

"Not as much as it used too." Tony grinned. "They used to be in med-bay at least two times a week."

"Lord." I shook my head.

"Yeah, they get pretty bad sometimes. Especially if Sides gets bored. They've even annoyed Hide to the point he's put them in med-bay a few times." He chuckled a little bit before he turned his gaze over to where the frontliners were passed the fuck out. "But I have to admit, they are a huge advantage to the Bots. Never seen a pair as deadly as them."

"It's the bond they share." I told him thoughtfully. "I'm almost certain it is. They are so attuned to one another they have perfected fighting with it. It gives them an advantage out there, they know what the other is going to do as soon as it crosses their mind."

"You an expert on Cybertronians now?" He teased me.

I smiled and shook my head. "No. But I am jealous. They operate at a level I can still only dream of reaching with Leo."

Tony just shrugged, now that he fully knew what exactly goes on between me and my lover, he knew what I was talking about. "Maybe you will get there one day. Yours is still fairly new compared to theirs."

"True enough." I replied. "But I'm still jealous."

We talked quietly for awhile after that. Nothing of earth shattering importance really, just mundane everyday things. We kept our voices down, for one not to wake my twins, and for another to keep under Ratchet's radar as he mumbled and grumbled his way through the repairs.

Mikey came walking in about a half hour later carrying a sleepy looking Ari in his arms.

"Nap time for Ari?" I smiled at them.

"Yeah." He replied, giving his daughter a tender look. "She's been fightin' it for awhile Blaster said. Finally starting to settle down though."

I watched as the youngest turtle laid his little girl down into a crib nearby. Again I noticed how his demeanor changed when he dealt with his mate and daughter. He was so annoying to the rest of us that it always kinda shocked me to see this softer, gentle side of him. He took his responsibilities as a father very serious, something you never would associate with the normally smart mouthed one of the bunch.

Humming a soft lullaby, he tenderly covered her up as he lovingly gazed down at the small child and she returned his gaze for a few moments before her green eyes slid closed. He then smiled and stroked her cheek for awhile before she settled into a deep sleep.

He smiled one more time and softly stroked her soft blond hair before finally turning to us. "What happened over there?" His head did a quick jerk towards the oversized Bot beds.

"The twins broke themselves." Tony grinned. "Ratchet and Jolt are trying to fix them."

"Huh, think they would mind if I watched?"

Tony shrugged. "It's your head. Risk the wrench at your own peril."

Mikey grinned at him. "Dude, I'm a ninja...they won't even know I'm there."

Tony just shrugged again.

I, on the other hand, gave Mikey a suspicious look. He just returned it with one full of wide eyed, and fake as hell, innocence. I just rolled my eyes. Didn't pursue the matter though because the twins were starting to stir. I could only guess what Mikey was up too as I took my children to go round up some snacks.

.

.

The sun was starting to go down as I sat outside as the children played. It was my turn to watch them all and they were romping around all over the playground while Ari was bouncing happily on my lap, babbling away as she sucked on her thumb.

I had to get up from my seat though as a fight broke out between Ty and Thane, something that was starting to happen more and more often now I noticed. I was starting to see a familiar pattern here. I inwardly groaned as I caught the first hints of a Leo/Raph like dominance thing going on.

I just got them separated and was pushing Ari in her swing when Leo finally found me with Dennis and Amy in tow. He walked up behind me and slipped his arms around my waist as I kept pushing my niece while the other two kids went to let their monkyness loose on the monkey bars.

"You behaving Ty?" He asked his swinging next to us son as I leaned against him.

"No, he not Daddy." Lavi answered for him as she came down the slide. "He and Thane got into a fight!"

"Tattle tail!" TY told her.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Uh huh!"

"Nuh UH!"

"Uh HUH!"

"NUH-"

"Enough." Leo told them sternly, cutting off the argument before it got into full voice.

"Yes, Daddy." They chimed together.

"One of those evenings I see." He then told me.

"Can't be perfect all the time." I replied.

"Don't expect all the time, but would _some_ of the time hurt?" He asked wryly.

"Then they wouldn't be kids." I laughed.

"True enough I suppose." I felt amusement come across the bond then. "Lord knows we weren't exactly well behaved."

"Got caught sneaking topside?"

"Among other things." He ruefully admitted.

We both got quiet as we watched the kids play, me still pushing Ari. His sharp eyes caught Ty about to throw sand at Thane. "Don't you do it." Leo warned him.

Ty dropped the sand and looked at Leo with wide eyed innocence. Reminded me a lot of Mikey's expression earlier actually. "I wadn't gonna do nufin."

Leo just gave him a steady look.

"I go play over dere." He pointed to where Lavi was still sliding.

"Wise decision." Leo told him.

"So, what have you three been up to all day?" I asked him then. "Didn't see you much." Actually, didn't see them hardly at all. They've been hanging out since before I got up today I remembered.

"Nothing." He replied just as my two older children started to giggle. I turned to look at him just as he gave them a warning glance. The giggling quickly died down, but my suspicions were rising by that point. "Just spending some one on one time with them." That part I could tell was true, but he wasn't telling me everything. He was hiding something. I decided not to pry any further. He would tell me when he was ready.

"Uncle Weo." Dante said then, pulling on Leo's clothing as he pointed to the swing. "Push me pwease."

"You want me to _push_ you? I dunno...seems like a lot of hard work..."

"Pwease, pwease." He said pointing again.

I smiled as Leo moved over and settled Dante on the swing, then began to push him.

The rest of the others began to show up then and we spent a pleasant evening out there with the kids as the sun slowly made it's way down. And, as usual, there was an Autobot lurking not far away. Mirage was leaning against the building, watching it all.

Not long after that, Sunny and Sides made their appearance, rolling around the corner of the building. I guess Ratchet finally finished their repairs.

"Uh oh." Mikey mumbled and I eyeballed him as he tried to hide behind the play tower.

"What did you do now?" Raph asked him.

"Nothing..." He replied, which usually meant something.

The twins had a brief conversation with the Mirage and he nodded and walked away before the twins rolled over to join us.

"So, this is where all the action is." Sides said as they rolled closer.

"Sisipe!" Thane chirped happily at the silver Corvette, he was about to run towards the twin before Cris snatched him up. "Mommy! Put me down! Wanna go see Sisipe and Funfreaker!"

"I know you want to see them, but you wait for them to stop moving before you run over there." She told her son amidst amused chuckles.

I was trying not to laugh myself...Funfreaker?

"Ha!" Sides exclaimed. "Always knew you were the freaky one Sunny!"

"Don't call me that! Don't call me Funfreaker either."

"Sure thing...Funfreaker."

Sunny transformed up and gave his brother a good kick. "I told you not to call me that!" He almost roared. Sides didn't care, he was dying with laughter.

Thane looked a little upset though. He looked like he was about to cry as he held onto Cris' shirt. "I made him mad Mommy..."

Sunny quit kicking his brother as he caught sight of the almost crying little boy, then knelt down and leaned in real close to him. "You, and only you, are allowed to call me Funfreaker." He said with a wink. Cris and I shot each other shocked glances at that. Did Sunny just...nooooooo... "That'll be our special name."

Thane giggled happily and Sunny winked at him again as he stood up, this time accompanied by a popping noise before smoke started to billow out into the air behind him. He twisted around to see what the hell was going on and there were a few more pops, followed by more smoke. "What the frag?" He grumbled.

Sides had transformed by now, and was laughing again. Until he started to 'pop smoke' himself. And the area where the smoke was coming from was actually very...how should I say this?...similar to certain human body functions after eating beans.

"Hey look!" Mikey couldn't help himself. "I invented pop-a-toot! Or is it smoke-a-fart? Oh! I know! Tootsie smoke pops!"

Sunny and Sides glared at him just an instant before they broke into a run to catch him. Every step they took set off another smoke pellet, and the air was rapidly filling with smoke, along with our laughter. Mikey was laughing the hardest as he ran, and cries of 'Backblast area not clear!' echoed over the field as he tried to stay one step ahead of them.

.

.

The stars were bright tonight to me for some reason. I sat on a rooftop in an out of the way spot, in my trusty bathrobe that has been with me on a lot of these midnight can't sleep stargazing nights. I was actually glad Will and Epps managed to scrounge up our belongings when they went back to get the van. I would have missed this old companion. I absently pulled it tighter around me as I watched the stars move on their nightly path.

He was there, I felt him coming before even reached the rooftop and shortly after he was sitting beside me. I quietly leaned against him as he wrapped an arm around me. "Not sleeping again I see." Leo quietly told me then. "What's bothering you this time?"

I just shrugged. I wasn't even sure myself why I was up this late. I just woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. "I don't even know to be honest with you."

"Restless?"

I just shrugged again. "Maybe."

I looked out over the quiet landscape just as a shooting star streaked across the horizon. "Make a wish." Leo told me in my ear.

I looked up at him with a slight smile. "I already have what I've always wished for."

His arm tightened around me a bit at that.

"Leo?" I finally said after leaning my head against his shoulder again.

"Hmm?"

"How...how did you beat that machine?" I had been wondering that, just never really got around to asking about it.

"Is that what's been bothering you tonight?"

"I don't know. I can't say it's been bothering me, but it's been itching in the back of my head I guess."

His other arm wrapped around me as he spoke. "I'm not sure I can explain it. But I can try and show you."

I nodded and soon after I did I felt him pull me in. I rode along with him through his memory of the fight, the harsh struggle as he fought for control of himself. The pain he sheltered me from, but I saw how he pulled what he loved around him, using it all to push the intrusion away. Still, even with that help, the sheer effort he had put into that fight was enough to fill me with awe. His mental abilities were mind boggling. By the time he finally let me go, I had my arms wrapped around his waist as I took it all in. "Leo..."

"I know." His cheek rested on the top of my head. "It wasn't easy."

"The fact that you were even able to do it at all..." I was still awed over it.

"I had a family to return home too." He simply said. "I wasn't going to let them do that."

"I'm just glad you were able to do it." I couldn't imagine him not being here. Just the very thought just sent a shudder down my body.

"You and me both. Now I have a question for you."

"Which is?"

"How in the world did you manage to stand up to Bishop?"

Now it was my turn to sit there and figure out how to explain it. I chose the simplest way I could. "Because I was the only thing standing between him and you."

"Oh, dear one." His arms tightened around me again. "That's not exactly what I meant, but you managed to hit my heart with that simple statement."

"I thought I already did." I smiled up at him.

"Well, you snuck a low blow in that time."

"I'm not really sure." I then went back to his question. "It just seemed like, I dunno, he wasn't as quick to me as he used to be. Still whacks a good punch though."

"That he does." He said thoughtfully. "But I'm wondering if he maybe told me the truth honestly and openly for the first time about something."

"That's a scary thought." I mumbled.

"Not really, considering he was sure I wouldn't be in the condition to remember it later." He said ruefully before growing serious again. "He has finally caught on to what you and Cris can do, dear one. I'm thinking something tipped him off in the lab fight."

"Yay me." I sighed. Was bound to happen sooner or later. "Why do I have a feeling that it earned me a one way trip to his lab?"

"Because it did, if he can do it." His tone took on a low growl then. "But I won't let him. Anyway, he seems to think you can do more than you let on. And after seeing you stand firm against him, I'm thinking the same thing."

"But I'm not even sure how I did it. It...just happened." I was actually getting embarrassed over the whole thing actually. I just did what I thought I had to do, I just had no idea _how_ I was able to do it and I felt like I should know.

"Don't worry about it." He told me then. "We all know this changed you, and it still is it seems. I was just curious is all."

"Come to think of it...when I was running through the forest, trying...trying to get to you," His arms tightened around me again "I was able to do more then already. Leo, I've never been able to push myself as hard as I did, and I'm not sure I could do it now."

"I see." He turned my head to face him then. "I'm also starting to think you have your own mental block."

"I seem to have a lot of those." I said wryly.

"But you also seem to work your way around them when you need too." He told me gently. "Now anyway. You didn't freeze up when you faced him. I'd say that's a big step forward."

"He had something I wanted, and I was going to get it back."

"That may be what unlocked it for you. We already found out that feelings can bring down stronger mental barriers."

"THey can also punch through deactivated comm lines." Ironhide said then as his head popped over the rim of the building, his blue eyes glowing in the darkness.

"You just aren't going to let us live that down, are you?" I glared at him.

"No."

I rolled my eyes.

"What's up Hide?" Leo asked him, before I could throw something at the large bot, not that there was anything here on the roof _to_ throw.

"Jazz picked something up. It's concerning him more than a little."

"Now what?" I groaned. "Does anyone sleep anymore?"

"This from the one who wandered off in the middle of the night." Leo told me amused. I stuck my tongue out at him. He just sighed and looked back at Hide. "All right, give us a bit and we will join him in the command center."

Hide just nodded before he disappeared from our view again. "Why do I have a feeling our peaceful night just came to an end?" I asked Leo as we stood up.

"Because it more than likely did." Was his reply as we began to make our way across the rooftop. Couldn't argue with that logic. I just let out a sigh, I was pretty sure I was going to regret not being able to sleep tonight.


	37. Chapter 37

We walked into the command center to a dimly lit room. Jazz, Blaster and Hide were pretty much the only ones there at this hour and the soft glow of the bot sized monitor was covering them all with a blue hue.

"Hey." Blaster acknowledged us as we approached, then grinned at me because I was still in my robe. "You _do_ have something on under that thing...right?"

"No." I told him sarcastically. "I'm just flopping around bare ass naked under there."

"Hide, you better not sneeze." Blaster's grin grew. "Might blow her flimsy cover away."

I just gave him a level look, and he returned it with an impish one.

"Smartass." I finally mumbled.

He just winked at me.

"Seems like we got somethin' out there." Jazz was saying to Leo.

"What kind of something out where?"

"Dunno. Somethin' set off my perimeter alarms tho'."

"Has Prime been notified?"

"'Course." Jazz replied. "He shoul' be on tha way here now."

Just as soon as Jazz finished that statement, the large leader came walking in the control room. "Have you made any progress in determining who it is?"

"Not much, Boss bot." Jazz took the time to answer him as he and Blaster still worked the controls. "Seemin' kinda strange tha Ah canna get a good peek at 'em."

"How close are they?" Leo asked.

"'Bout ten miles out." Jazz replied.

"Close enough to catch our attention, but not really close enough to be a confirmed threat." Hide spoke up.

"I don't like it." Leo said flatly.

"Not sure I do either." Hide agreed.

"Lennox is already trying to determine who they are." Blaster informed us. "Could be the possibility of local troops out playing."

"Out here in the middle of nowhere?" I asked him doubtfully as I shook my head. "I don't know, sounds highly doubtful. It's the 'off' season for two week drills for the Guard and Reserves. And there aren't any bases nearby to point at regular troops. Just doesn't sound like regular troops to me."

Prime looked thoughtfully over the screen in front of him. "Jazz."

"Yes?"

"Gather a party and go investigate. I agree that a certain amount of caution is recommended here."

"Can do Boss Bot." Jazz then turned to Leo. "Feel like comin'? You guys might be useful, almos' as sneaky as Ah am."

"I'm sure we could be better than you...if certain members of my family would quit goofing off." Leo ginned back at him.

"Where's the fun in that?" I asked him with a smile.

He just gave me one of those looks. "You're starting to sound like Mikey."

I shrugged. "He was bound to rub off on me sooner or later. You want me to come along?"

"No. Not this time. I think we can handle a simple scout run on our own." He smiled at me then. "Besides you were the one hollering for a break from all the adventuring."

"I meant when we got back home Leo."

Jazz just chuckled. "I thin' the four guys, mahself an' Bee can handle this." He said as he and Leo started for the door. "But if we can't, feel free tah come bustin' in with Hide." He winked at me in passing.

"Sure thing." I grinned back up at him. "But I'll leave the guns blazing part to him, he's better suited for it."

"Damn straight." Hide agreed.

I walked with Leo down the halls as he woke his brothers, then we returned to our room so he could gear up. I quietly watched as he strapped his various weapons on, not quite sure how I felt being left out on this one.

Leo returned my gaze as he slid his katanas in place. "Worried that I might be relapsing?" He asked me with a small smile.

I just rolled my eyes at him. "You know the answer to that already. Just not used to staying behind is all. It feels wierd just standing on the sideline."

"I know dear one, but in this situation I think a smaller team would be better." He walked over to give me a hug.

"Just...be careful, ok?"

"I will. I really don't have anything to distract me this time, so a repeat of last time won't happen."

"It better not." I grumbled at him. "Not sure if I would survive another ride with Chromia."

His laughter was cut off by the knock at the door and Leo went over to open it to find Raph on the other side. "Ready when you are." He told Leo.

"You sure you don't need us?" Cris asked as she popped her head around Raph's large frame.

Leo shook his head in mild amusement. "They are acting like we haven't been doing this alone for years before we even met them."

"Tell me about it." Raph grinned. "Been gettin' an earful since you woke me up."

"Not my fault you boneheads tend to bumble shit up and make us worry." She snapped back.

"We'll be fine Cris." Leo sighed. "Just going to be a scout run."

"Uh huh. And tomorrow night the moon is going to be purple." She glared at him a moment. "Fine. But you better not get my Raphie hurt, or I'll peel you out of your shell."

"Your Raphie?" Raph looked at her with a small smile.

"Shut up dickhead, you know what I mean."

"Nobody has called me that since we were kids." He said wryly. "Was hoping that name had gone forgotten."

Leo just chuckled. "Nothing gets lost with these two." He looked at me affectionately. "Sometimes I think they know things we don't even know about ourselves."

"Scary thought." Raph muttered and Cris elbowed him.

Cris and I walked with them as they headed towards the door that led them outside, accompanied by the other half along the way. "Looks like a pajama parade." Mikey grinned at us worried females.

"You wear some weird looking pajamas." Raph muttered to him.

"I meant them." A thumb was pointed in our direction.

"I know who you meant you blockhead."

"Someone is a bit cranky." Donnie said mildly. Raph just grunted in reply.

By the time we made it outside Jazz and Bee were already waiting in vehicle mode and Will, Epps and Sally were there along with Prime and Hide. "Ready?" Jazz asked as we came marching out.

"Ready as we are going to get." Leo answered.

"Well then, let's get rollin'." His door opened as he said it.

Once again I was having mixed feelings as I watched them load up. And I could tell I wasn't the only one. Marina let out a pensive sigh and Cris was still mumbling under her breath, threatening to deshell Leo if shit went wrong. Caitlin seemed to be the only one who took it all in stride, but then she was used to staying behind. It took everything I had not to try and bully Hide into taking me out there as I watched them fade into the night.

"I'm sure they will be fine." Hide told us as he watched us watch them.

"I know Hide. It's just I've been going out with them so long now that it feels...off having to stay behind."

"Not to mention they tend to get into trouble." Cris muttered.

"They've been doing that before we even met them." I reminded her.

"Exactly my point."

Sally let out a quiet laugh. "Well, since the turtle boss left...who do I share the latest development with?"

Cris, Caitlin and Marina all pointed at me. "Gee, thanks guys." I told them dryly.

"Don't mention it." Marina grinned back at me.

"The hazards of banging the leader." Criss grinned along with her.

"Way too much information there." Epps muttered.

I ignored them as I turned my attention to Sally. "Whatcha got?"

"A phone call." She replied. "Well, I had one. Actually didn't get my ass chewed after all."

"How on earth did they find you?" Marina asked her curiously. "Thought Blaster, Jazz and Donnie had this thing so boarded up that no one would be able to get through."

"Set up a complicated reroute plan. Blaster helped me out with it so I could get some feedback when Mr. Prez decided to make his decision."

"Sounds complicated just listening to it." I mumbled. Technology crap still gives me headaches. "So, what news came out of it?"

"Well, Bishop did end up getting his funding cut, and he's on the major shit list. Our commander in chief was not happy when he found out about all of these shenanigans."

"Only took how many years?" Cris muttered.

"Wouldn't be the first time he's managed to squeak past on the budget cuts." I answered her. "He's very resourceful when it comes to keeping his cover."

"If I remember right, we had the issue of trying to justify two separate agencies." Will said. "He almost got shut down two years ago when it came to light that N.E.S.T. and the EPF were, technically, the same thing. Both chasing aliens."

"How did he avoid that?" Caitlin asked him.

"Somehow convinced upstairs that his branch was still needed. N.E.S.T deals with the Cybertronians already here while he deals with 'other potential threats'." Will shrugged. "And since the existence of aliens has been proven," He waved his hand at the Bots "he used the argument that there might be more out there wanting to come here. Basically we deal with the threat already here while he keeps a look out for more out there."

"And that actually worked?" Cris asked incredulously.

Will just shrugged again. "Never said all politicians were smart."

"Oh boy..." Cris facepalmed.

"Well, they are shutting him down now." Sally said then. "His official funding anyway."

"Official funding?" Epps asked her.

"C'mon." She replied. "You actually don't think he's going to rely only on government funding do you? I'm almost certain he has other means to pay for his crap."

"She may be right." Caitlin said thoughtfully. "The funding could just be another cover."

"Wouldn't surprise me if it was." Marina added.

"Me neither." I added. "Bishop is too slick to rely solely on one source of income."

"Great." Epps said. "So we went through that effort for nothing?"

"Not really." Sally told him. "Bishop is now on the top of the 'handcuff his ass and drag him in here' list. He's a wanted criminal instead of a special agent."

"Now we just need to find him and bring him in."

"Yeah...good luck with that." Cris flatly told him. "We've been trying for years."

"And the guys have been trying for years before that." I reminded her. "He's not going to be found, or caught, easily."

"Maybe not," Sally looked at me "but all of his bases, that are known anyway, are in the process of being shut down. Hopefully that will severely limit his options."

"Or it might drive him to do something desperate." Caitlin mused.

"Good. Maybe he will get desperate enough and jump off the side of a cliff." Epps said.

I just looked at him with a level gaze. "Epps, Bishop doesn't get that way. If he is hurting enough, he will find a way to justify the reasons on why he needs that funding and his freedom. We are not talking about a guy going loony, we are talking about a guy who will plan this out very carefully. I've seen him stage a fake alien invasion before to justify his keeping his funding, and he did get to keep it by 'saving' the president from his genetic monsters. But Stockman messed something up and the end result was a mutation plague in the city of New York. Which in return got Donnie sick, which made the guys go to Bishop for help, which resulted in a cure that Bishop promptly spread all over the city. Once again gaining trust with the president. And this is all just in a kids show." I shook my head. "If my experience has taught me anything, he is just as bad, if not worse, in real life."

"You are saying just because he is down, doesn't mean he is out..." Epps muttered quietly and I just nodded slowly.

"This very well make him even more of a contender, if he can't hold his end of the bargain." Cris added. "I don't think the Cons will let him live if he can't come up with his genetic programmable monsters."

"They have been know to act harshly on failures." Hide agreed.

"So he's going to get it from both sides." Caitlin wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm starting to wish I didn't get out of bed to come out here. Not really liking where this is going."

"Bishop on his own is bad enough, I'm almost scared to see what he will try next to counter this. Maybe taking his funding wasn't such a great idea now that I think about it." I sighed.

"Only time will tell." Prime said then. He had listened to the whole exchange quietly, his eyes thoughtful. He then looked to Hide and something seemed to pass between the two, because Hide gave him his own slow nod. "Come, let's return to the control room and see what the scouts find out, this is the situation we need to concern ourselves with at the moment."

Before we could turn to enter the building, Casey came busting out of it. Hopping on one leg trying to get a shoe on and pull his mask down at the same time. Then he paused and looked around. "Aww maaaaan...I missed them...Why didn't anyone tell me sooner they were going out?" Then he lost his balance and fell over.

"That might be the reason why..." Marina sighed as she shook her head.

.

.

The cool breeze took Leo's mask tails and swirled them around in the night air as he looked through some binoculars at the mass of humans gathered out in the desert valley below them. Really couldn't call it a valley really, more like a dip in the landscape. Whatever you want to call it, he found himself lying over the edge of the slight rim, his watchful blue eyes quietly gauging the situation below him. His brothers were on the ground on either side of him, and Bee and Jazz were hunkered down as small as they could get. All of them had their attention firmly set on the decent size of bodies in front of them.

"That is quite a few of them." Raph muttered as he lowered his own set of long distance peepers.

Leo just nodded absently in agreement as he kept looking. "Enough to give Will some problems."

"Now the question is, who are they with?"

Leo finally lowered his own binoculars as he looked at the geeky one of the bunch. "Donnie?"

The purple banded ninja was looking through his goggles at the group below them. "I'm not making out anything I can use to identify them." He flipped his goggles up then. "Whoever they are, I don't think they are regular troops."

Leo's expression turned wry at that. "She was right." He chuckled.

"Who was?" Mikey asked.

"Vicky. She made it perfectly clear that she doesn't think these guys are on the military's payroll."

"Shouldn't really surprise you Leo." Donnie lowered his goggles again. "She did serve herself for a few years if you recall, makes sense that she would know the signs."

"I know, but for some reason her insights always seem to catch me off guard."

"She does seem to have the ability to see both sides of almost everything." Donnie agreed. "Kinda like a brother of mine."

"I didna know she served." Jazz sounded mildly surprised.

Leo just nodded before a half smile found it's way to his lips. "You should talk Will into letting her play with one of your vehicle mounted weapons. Sure she would love that."

"Yeah...since Donnie keeps forgetting to add something to the van for her to play with." Mikey grinned.

"Oh please," Donnie mumbled "it's bad enough that you guys yell at me for blowing shit up. Not altogether sure she would be able to control herself."

"Sounds like you're just jealous that she might get as bad as you about blowing stuff up." Mikey grinned at him, then got a face full of sand as Donnie chunked some at him.

"So what now?" Raph interrupted. "Do we go in for a closer look?"

Leo thought it over a little as he looked over the surrounding terrain. "I was thinking that myself, but it's going to have to be just us. To exposed out there to hide the Bots."

Bee let out a disappointed tone.

"What the-" Donnie cut himself off as he shook his wrist device.

"What?" Raph asked him.

"Not sure, I think I'm getting sand in my systems. Had a weird glitch there for a second but it's gone now."

"Sand does seem tah get inta e'rythang." Jazz chuckled. "Gonna take a bit tah get it all outta my systems."

"So glad I don't have that problem." Mikey grinned at him.

"Go." Jazz said then. "Bee an' Ah will keep an eye on ya. We'll be there if ya need us."

With quick nods the turtles then carefully got up and moved in on the encampment below. They didn't get very far though when the arrival of some very unwelcome additions made them stop again.

"Cons." Jazz muttered. "Shoulda guessed."

"And that pretty much reveals the identity of the troops." Leo muttered back. "I think we both should have figured this one one out quicker."

"Not the first time Bishop sniffed the base out." Raph agreed. "Anyone want to take bets on what the goal is for tonight?"

"I dunno 'bout their goal." Jazz said. "But Ah know what mine is. Time to call in the boss bot."

"No argument there." Leo agreed.

And so they hunkered back down and waited for the arrival of the mechanical calvary. Nothing else they really could do at this point. As much as Raph wanted too, there were just to many for them to take on their own. Eyeing his impatient brother, Leo hoped Prime could mobilize the others in a timely matter. He didn't think Raph was going to take much more of Bishop's constant attempts to put their families in danger. Looking out across the plains towards the amount gathered here, Leo really couldn't blame him. Once again he had to fight to save his loved ones, and others, from this nutjob. Leo was really looking forward to the day when this one at least wouldn't be able to bother anyone ever again.


	38. Chapter 38

I still had that uneasy feeling as I watched the Bots and Will's troops roll out of the compound shortly after Jazz's call. For some reason I couldn't get out of him, Hide choose to stay behind and the large bot stood next to me as I again watched friends slip away into the darkness.

"Still worried?" Hide asked me.

"I wouldn't say worried really Hide, just...I dunno..."

He looked at me with a wry smile on his face. "So, the student is concerned that the teacher can't handle himself out there?"

I blushed a little at that. "That obvious huh..."

"Very." His smile turned into a grin. "That and you seem to forget that you can't hide from me what goes on up there." He gave my head a slight nudge with his finger tip.

"Busted by technology..." I muttered at him.

"Busted by your over thinking mind." He corrected. "I do believe I've told you before you think too much."

"Whatever." I looked back up at him. "So, I know why I'm here, why are you still here and not out there itching to blow up some Cons?"

"Because I am needed here." Was the cryptic answer.

"By who? Blaster? Ratchet?"

"Don't you have anything better to do than harass me with questions?" He grumbled at me.

"No." I told him impishly. "The fun train left without me tonight."

"You want a quick boost to catch up with them?" I got his point as soon as he pulled his leg back for a kick.

"Ah...no. Think I'll pass. Thanks for the offer though, but I'm not really dressed for it." I grinned up at him as I pointed to the pajamas and robe I was still wearing.

He just rolled his eyes and stomped off, muttering something about annoying femmes.

I just smiled as he stomped away before my attention was once again drawn in the direction where my lover and numerous others had disappeared. That feeling just would not go away. "Be careful." I quietly told the night breeze that seemed to travel in his direction before I walked back inside, that feeling nagging me every step I took.

.

.

Hide wouldn't admit it to her, but he shared Vicky's unease. The troops and Cons were close, very close, to the compound and he was sure that was what was setting him on edge. Prime sensed it too because it was under his direct orders that Hide found himself here. And Hide really didn't protest it. Someone had to stay behind to boost the base defences in case something went wrong.

He spent the time walking around the base, his optics covering every inch of the area as he went. Probably an unnecessary action on his part considering the amount of alarms, warning devices and who knows what else was installed, but that same nagging feeling that plagued Vicky was itching at his own processors and he couldn't shake it. But he couldn't quite place it either on what was making him feel so...restless.

He lost count on how many times he walked among the buildings, always searching for something he couldn't explain, when his optics caught ahold of something that seemed like...a visual glitch? His optics narrowed as he moved closer towards the area where he caught the unusual flicker, a flicker that he wasn't altogether sure he saw. Maybe his optics were malfunctioning. But something told him they weren't, and it wasn't a diagnostic scan that told him either.

Still, he didn't last this long in the war by not being cautious...and quick with the trigger. His cannons came out as he moved in, his optics searching for something he now knew was seriously setting off his internal alarms. His instincts as humans would call them. Something wasn't right here and he was determined to blast it into tiny little bits if he needed too.

Another cautious step moved him closer, and that was the last step he was able to take before he was hit with something that shot electricity through him. Enough to immobilize the large, feisty Bot enough to where it was possible for another jolt to come in from another angle. He could only watch as numerous error messages flashed in his vision. All programming containing his ability to move just locked up as he toppled forward. Hide was now completely helpless as he found out that he couldn't even comm out.

"And with that I have one of my previous specimens back under my control." A very familiar and very hated human voice came across his barely working audio receptors. "Let's see what the rest of this base has to offer, shall we?"

He couldn't see because they were out of his direct line of sight, but he heard their movement. Movement that was heading towards the building that housed the barracks, and Ratchet's med-bay. No...the young ones... He knew they were in danger, and he was helpless to stop it.

Hide snarled internally at that fact. No...he was _not_ helpless and he _would_ stop it! He fought to get his systems back online, to find a way to reroute the commands from his processor to his now immobile limbs. Hide couldn't find the way, but he would, he was too stubborn to quit. Even now, fueled by the anger of being caught unaware and the fact that innocent youths were at risk, he was doing his best to find that way. He struggled through countless combinations when the right one seemed to hit him by sheer accident. Even as there were now visible troops moving in on him with those pit be damned icepacks to freeze him for transport, his finger twitched. He hoped he had the time to get everything back online, but as the first nozzles were aimed at him it didn't look like it.

.

.

Leo was still stuck in that same spot as he and his brothers watched the Autobots surround the makeshift encampment, or gaggle, or cluster fuck, or whatever the hell you wanted to call it. Surprisingly very little activity was taking place down there.

"I'm so glad you found us these things to play with." Sides told him a bit grumpily as the silver Bot nestled in the sand next to him. "But do we really have to lay in this itchy crud? It's scratching my finish."

"You can take the cost of a new finish out of their hides." Raph told him with a grin.

"You know what?" Sides grinned back. "I believe I will do just that. Hey Sunny? What's the going rate for new finish work?"

"The whole fragging thing down there looks about right." The moody yellow twin growled back. "And don't call me that." He said then as an afterthought.

"Sounds about right to me too." Raph agreed, and the three shared a nasty grin.

"Oh lord." Leo mumbled to Donnie. "We need to get him home. He's getting as bad as they are."

"Was bound to happen sooner or later." Donnie replied back as he once again looked over his readings. Leo caught the quick frown that crossed his features, something was obviously bugging his younger brother. Well, obvious to Leo anyway.

"What's wrong?" He quietly asked.

Donnie shook his head as he answered. "I'm...not sure. Been getting these wierd glitches. At first I thought it was sand in my systems but I honestly don't know anymore."

_That_ didn't settle well with Leo at all. "What kind of glitches?"

Again Donnie just shook his head as he began to mutter to himself, trying to figure out what was wrong with his stuff.

"Boss Bot is ready." Jazz then quietly said. "He wants ya guys tah hang back for tha mos' part."

"Still on the 'We have done enough' schtick?" Raph asked him, not sounding too pleased about again having to miss out on a Bot brawl.

Jazz just shrugged. "Didna say. And Ah didna ask."

Raph decided to mumble some few choice words about staying back, missing fights, idiot Cons and everything else that seemed to piss him off tonight.

Leo elbowed him to shut him up long enough to be heard. "It's fine. We'll wait here but will engage if the need arises. That much I agree with Raph on, we won't just sit here and watch someone get hurt if we can do something to prevent it."

"Wouldn' 'spect any less from yah." Jazz grinned before looking at the twins. "You two get tah stay put wit them."

"Say what." Sides said flatly.

"Ya heard me. Prime wants yah tah stay put."

"Oh come on!" Sides whined. "I came out here to fillet some Cons...not watch you guys do it."

Jazz just shrugged. "Not mah call."

"I am not going to just lay here and let those-" Sunny's rampage was cut off before it even got started as he seemed to hear something only he could. Then he and Sides let out a resigned sigh. Leo took a guess that Prime had just personally told them to keep their behinds back.

"Let's go Bee!" Jazz suddenly told the scout and those two broke cover as the other two pouted as they were forced to watch.

They watched as the Bots and Will's troops emerged from the sides of that depression like ants coming out of a kicked anthill. But what made Leo's eyes narrow was the fact they weren't being fired at, or even attacked in anyway for that matter. They we just allowed to waltz right up to the encampment, unchallenged. Considering what he knew of the Cons and Bishop, this was more than a little odd.

"Um...guys..." Donnie spoke up just as the first of Will's troops made contact, only to jump back in startled surprise when his reaching hand went right through the bad guy he was trying to detain. "They aren't real."

"What!" Raph exploded as Leo whipped his head around to face Donnie. The confused shouts coming from below really didn't add to Leo's comfort level either.

"Holograms." Donnie explained curtly. "Very sophisticated ones. They give off readings like normal lifeforms which is how they drew our attention in the first place."

"Are they hiding somewhere else out here?" Raph asked. "Trying to come up from behind maybe?"

"Not from what I can tell. Once I figured out what was going on I quickly did a scan of the area. There is nothing else out here, hologram or real."

"Why on earth would they waste a perfectly good hologram out here then?" Mikey asked confused.

Leo eyes had already widened as it all suddenly clicked. "To draw us out." He snapped, anger filling his voice. One of the oldest tricks in the book...and they had all fallen for it. Damn it all to hell! He turned to Sideswipe who was looking at them in shock at this revelation. "Get me back to base. _Now!_"

Sides didn't even argue the fact of letting a dirty, sand covered turtle ride inside him and getting sand everywhere. He knew that look in Leo's eyes by now and he really didn't want to be on the receiving end of this one's anger. He wordlessly transformed into vehicle mode and Leo didn't even waste time trying to squeeze in, he just leapt onto the hood. "Go!" Sides already had his tires spinning before he even finished getting the word out.

Before any of the others could join him, Sides spun around and was fishtailing as he sped back towards the base. That left Sunny to deal with the other three as they too sprung into action. The yellow Autobot didn't even offer his usual "Watch the paint" as he suddenly found himself covered in turtles before he was also racing across the desert behind his twin.

Cursing to himself at this serious oversight, Leo only hoped he could get there in time.


	39. Chapter 39

I got Leo's warning call as I was walking the quiet halls back to our room and I immediately headed to the one place where the most vulnerable of all of us were sleeping. Med-bay. And I sprinted like a damn jack rabbit. I was cursing the fact that my weapons were back in the room, but I didn't want to risk the time to go get them. I had to get to the kids, now.

I skidded in my slippery slippers around a corner and almost crashed right into Tony who was moving just as fast in my direction. I slid a few feet down the hallway before I was able to stop and talk to him. "You heard already?" The young medic asked me. I nodded in reply as I tapped my head. "I keep forgetting about that." He mumbled. "Blaster told me to come get you. Apparently Sideswipe gave him the heads up."

"Don't worry about me. Go find Marina and the others and have them go to med-bay."

"Med-bay?"

"The kids you dip!" I flared at him. "I need to get them out of here!"

"Shiiiit... On it. I think Caitlin is already there though."

"Ok, just go find the others then."

With a quick nod he took off and I once again ran down the hallways. After that nervous wreck sprint I ended up barging into med-bay like a damn wrecking ball. "Ratchet! Caitlin!"

"Ratchet's not here." Caitlin informed me as she walked up from the back of the room.

"Damn it..." I mumbled. "We've got a problem, we need to get the kids out of here."

She looked at me a bit shocked, but didn't question it as she fell into step beside me towards the kids. I did take the time to quickly and quietly inform her of the situation.

"You think they might be coming here?" She asked me once I was done.

"I don't know. Leo seems to be worried enough about it though and that's more than good enough for me."

She just nodded as we began waking up sleeping children.

"Mom?" Amy looked confused as she wiped her sleepy eyes. "What's going on?"

"We need to go honey. Help me with you brother and sister." She nodded and slipped out of bed as I went to Dennis next. Had to shake that one a bit harder to wake him up. Caitlin by now had the smaller ones awake and was herding them towards me as she carried Ari.

"Vicky!" Ratchet bellowed as he came stomping back into med-bay then. "You need to...oh, you already are." He looked more than a little frustrated as he moved closer. "Quickly. They have already infiltrated the base."

"Damn it..." I whispered as I tried to keep my composure. "How bad?"

"Bad enough. I can't get ahold of Hide...and they managed to get Blaster." He began moving towards the large vent in the room. "We need to get you out of here, the others can catch up with you later." He opened it easily and lifted Caitlin up, talking to me as he then began passing the children to her. "Follow this until you get to the first intersection, then take the left one. Follow it then take another left at the third one down, then an immediate right. It will lead you to the garage where your vehicle is stored. Be careful though because it opens up on the outside and you will have to walk around the building to get in." He then lifted me up.

"What about you?" I asked as I turned back towards him.

"Don't worry about me!" He snapped. "Just go!" He barely got the sentence out before he started sprouted little lightning bolts that ran up his large frame, originating from something that had hit him in the side. He collapsed to his knees before he could put the cover back on and I looked out in shock and horror as he was hit again.

"Ratchet!" I was so torn between taking my kids to safety and stay here to help him. It literally hurt my heart to see him like this, in pain and unable to defend himself from the men who were now flooding into the room.

"GO!" He managed to roar before he collapsed to the floor.

With tears in my eyes I turned away from him. I hated myself for it, but I had no choice. I swiftly picked up Dante and ushered the other children in front of me through the vent tunnels. Caitlin still had Ari in her arms as we scurried the now frightened kids as quick as we could away from med-bay.

"Mom? What's going on?" Amy asked me, her face white with fear.

Dennis didn't look much better as he tried to play the brave one. Each one of them was carrying a sibling by now and I swung Thane up into my other arm. Now that all the toddlers were up off of the floor we were able to move a lot quicker.

"Amy, sweetie, I'm so sorry." I told her. "This should have never happened."

"Bad guys find us again?" Dennis asked.

"Yes." I sighed as I kept pushing them on.

"Aw...is that all?" Amy grinned. "I bet they gonna get their butts whooped for messin' with the Bots."

That may be so...if the Bots were here. Amy didn't know that almost all of them had been called off of the base and the ones that were still here were now either missing or taken down already, and I didn't have the heart to tell her. Caitlin and I exchanged quick, worried, glances as we ran but didn't say anything. We were on our own on this one.

After following Ratchet's directions we emerged out of the wall right were he said we would. I carefully set the children down I had been carrying before just as carefully removing the cover. Caitlin and I both took the time to look the compound over but we didn't see anything...or anyone. That feeling of unease was eating at me though again. I didn't want to go out there, but staying here wouldn't be safe either. I fully expected them to come flooding in these vent shafts soon, if they didn't already.

"Seems quite." Caitlin said softly as our eyes searched for any hint of a threat.

I didn't answer her but I did start to lower myself to the ground. Once my slippered feet hit the tarmac Caitlin then began to pass the children down before she herself leapt down to join me. "Come on." I whispered to them before once again picking up Thane. Caitlin took Dante this time along with Ari. We began to quickly make our way around the side of the building, with my instincts screaming at me. We were to exposed out here, there was nowhere to hide but we had to get to the van. It was the only way to get the children out of here.

It was the sudden ring of men that appeared us that forced us to stop. They just popped out of nowhere and they took me more than a little by surprise as they surrounded us, their flashlights glaring in my eyes. And that ended our attempt to get to the van, they had us cut off from any route to get to it. I was snarling out curses as I placed Thane down behind me and as far away from them as possible, then I squarely placed myself between these goons and the children. My eyes glaring dangerously at them, quietly daring them to step one fucking foot closer.

One of them was actually dumb enough to take me up on that dare as he reached for Amy. I quickly snapped my own arm out, caught his and, ignoring his shocked expression, flipped him right into a couple of buddies who were trying to come to his aid. Then I turned my attention back to the rest of them, not backing down one bit. Sure they outnumbered me, but I wasn't going to let them near these kids without a damn fight.

"I think that is about enough of that." A calm voice from around the corner I had trying so hard to get to. Bishop didn't have to push his way past his men, they willingly cleared an opening for him as he calmly stood there. "Stand down, if you wish your family members to survive." He made his point very clear when more troops came up to the front of the group, carrying the unconscious and tied up bodies of Marina, Cris, Sally and Casey. Then men just dropped my friends to the ground at Bishop's feet. "I think you are smart enough to see how this is going to play out."

Did he really think I believed we had a chance in hell with him? Yeah, we might survive, but not in any condition that we would willfully wish upon ourselves. "I'm smart enough to know not to trust a damn word that comes out of your mouth." I sneered at him. "Either way this goes, we are fucked."

He just gave me that slight, smug smile of his before his eyes found what was behind me. I saw them widen in shock as he fully processed what he was actually seeing and I subconsciously pushed the children further back away from him to the point I had them up against the wall. I still very much kept myself between Bishop and those helpless little ones behind me. But this did free Caitlin up from having to watch our rears and she came to stand next to me, her face set with the same determination I had.

"Well now, what do we have here... Interesting, very interesting indeed. You ladies are becoming more and more complex. I'd say from the age range and the features they have to come from all of you. This was a possibility I hadn't even thought of." He smirked again. "So tell me, who is the father of who here? Hmm?"

"Go to hell." The normally quiet and shy Caitlin snarled at him. Even I had to do a double take on that one, wasn't sure that was actually her there for a second.

"No matter, I'm sure the DNA will reveal it to me. And thank you for handing me the solution to my current dilemma. Which I do believe you more than likely had something to do with."

"And I'm sure your arrogance will force you to bore me to death with the details."

He actually laughed at me...fuckhead...I so wanted to punch him in the pie hole right now... "Not very complicated to figure out. My funding and good name," I snorted on_ that_ one "were stripped from me and I intend to restore it."

"Going to make fake aliens and parade them in front of the government?"

"Oh please. That would take time and effort. Why make them...when as far as I'm concerned they are already here? Mutated turtles, aliens," He shrugged "they both are green and not normal to the average human. I'm sure your guardians will make a good substitute for the real thing. Remove a few tell tale things, like their shells, and no one will know the difference. All I needed was something to lure them in to where I can manage certain...negotiations with them."

"You mean use us to bait them into a trap." Caitlin snapped at him.

"Exactly." He grinned. "My you are a smart one. I should have recruited you instead of Stockman." Again his eyes wandered to the little ones. "Now these on the other hand I shall use for my personal studies. Very interesting combination. I'll enjoy taking you all apart to see how it all fits. The human ones unfortunately I personally have no use for, but I'm sure the Cons would love to use them. I do have this other project I'm working on after all together with them."

"Go to fucking hell!" Caitlin almost screamed at him, fear clouding her eyes with tears. I reached out and placed a calming hand on her arm.

"I've already been there." He told her in a deathly quiet tone. "And I make it my responsibility to make sure they don't come back and take me there again."

I just stared at him. He was nuts...absolutely friggin insane in the membrane full blown lost his damn mind nuts... "You do all of this, just because you are scared that the little grey men will come back and get you and finish what they started? How in the hell do you justify yourself!? You do the same shit to others that they did to you, you fucking moron!"

His eyes grew cold then, very cold. "I do. And I don't need justification...from anyone. Take them!" He snapped at his men.

"Try it." I warned those same men. The dumbasses did. I just shrugged as they moved in, I did try to warn them...they were _not_ going to take these children anywhere if I could help it. The first one that got in my reach was quickly reminded of what happened to the first idiot who tried to touch my daughter.

"Stop, or they die." Bishop nudged the still unconscious Cris with his foot to make his point.

"Then at least they die a clean death and not end up as some twisted experiment of yours! Not to mention I know them all well enough to know that these children mean more to them than their own lives, just as I will defend them with my own."

"So be it then." He sneered at me. "I can still work on your corpses. Shoot them."

"Mom..." Amy clung to me from behind even as she held her little sister close. I reached my hand behind me to take hers as the guns were raised and I felt Dennis reach out to hold the same hand.

"NO!" Roared a thunderous voice across the compound. It was loud, full of anger and one I knew very well. It also stunned everyone to a halt. A moment later Ironhide stepped around the corner of the building, his cannons already out and fired up. "No more will you harm them!"

"How did you...no matter. Disarm the weapons. There is no way you can hit me without taking them all out and you know it. They are well inside the blast radius."

Steam came out of Hide's nose as he had to agree with Bishop on that. He looked towards us a moment before looking back down at the now ex agent with narrowed eyes. "Very well." His cannons spun once before they retracted back into their compartments.

Bishop plastered that smug smile on his face again. "I knew you would see it my way. Restrain him and-" Right in the middle of that sentence a large, black foot attached to a large, pissed off Ironhide slammed down onto Bishop with enough force to shake the ground. With a sneer on his face, Hide then added insult to...well...death...by grinding his foot a few times like a smoker snuffing out a cigarette they just dropped on the ground.

Once he had firmly smeared what was left of Bishop all over the tarmac, his still very pissed off gaze swept over the troops Bishop had brought with him. "Who's next?" He asked in a deathly quiet voice.

That hung there for a minute...you could have heard a pin drop...and the sounds of high performance engines quickly approaching as head lights started to fill the area. The troops decided to drop their guns and run right about the same time green fury came plowing into them. Some few very stupid ones tried to go for me and the kids. Didn't know what they were trying to do there but this time I had back up as Mikey came flying in. Caitlin quickly ducked out out of the way and pulled the kids as far away as she safely could.

Leo and Donnie cleared a way to our prone friends as Raph just barreled his way through any of them who could not, or dumb enough and would not, get out of his way fast enough. Add the fact that Hide was stomping around like a very pissed off stompinator and that Sunny and Sides were now in their Bot modes taking pot shots at them like some weird shit you see on Tom and Jerry or Looney Toons and you had controlled chaos. They would run one way and Sides would put a shot in to the ground in front of them, so they would run the other way and Sunny would do the same. Was kinda funny actually...picture that scene with a ping every time they changed directions and you will see what I mean.

It was at that point that Prime came rolling in with the rest of the Bots, who all scattered all over the compound to flush out the rest of Bishop's men. Were quite a few of them.

Jazz came rolling up with Will and Epps, who quickly had their men fan out and take these goons into custody. Epps was barking orders while Will came running over to where Leo and Donnie were by now tending the now slowly waking up group on the ground. "Is she ok?" He asked Donnie as he knelt by Sally.

"Should be. Might have a nasty headache when she wakes up though. They all will. Seems like knocking them out was the only way they could subdue them."

Raph walked over and knelt down next to Cris. "Wouldn't surprise me a bit." He said

"You guys ok?" Mikey asked me then, drawing my attention away from the others a moment. I just nodded as Caitlin threw herself into his arms, Ari once again in hers. And as soon as she did, the stress of what just happened caught up with her and she started to cry. He wrapped his arms around his family, holding them gently but firmly in his arms. "Shh...it's ok, Kit Kat." He reassured her as he laid his cheek against her hair. "It's ok."

I was holding my own children close, trying to shield them from the gruesome mess in front of us, as I stood staring in shock still at the unrecognizable slab of meat that had once been the most terrifying man I had ever known. Now he was reduced to a lifeless clump of flesh. Soon I found myself blinking back my own tears and soon after that another set of arms wrapped their way around us the same way Mikey was holding his loved ones close. I looked up into those blue eyes...and I lost it myself. He was gone and the tears I cried were of relief. Relief that he wouldn't hurt me, or my children, or anyone else ever again and Leo pulled me close as I let them out. Soon I felt his cheek rest on the top of my head as he tried to comfort me.

Amy was crying too, the whole thing getting to her just like it did to Caitlin and she clung to Leo's gear with a death grip even as she still held onto Lavi. I took Ty from Dennis and he pretty much held onto both Leo and I for dear life after I did. "He was going to hurt Mom." Amy sobbed. "For no reason..."

Leo just pulled her even closer. I could see the worry in his eyes as he watched the children struggle with this. Honestly I was worried too. They had just ran into the most lethal man the turtles had ever faced, besides Shredder, and their mother had to put herself in harms way to shield them from him. We would need a whole damn platoon of shrinks to deal with this.

"But Hide got him real good!" She then went one eighty on me. "Squished him flat! Did you see that! Stomp, splat!"

"Just like a bug!" Dennis added. "A big nasty bug."

By now Tony had shown up and took over for Donnie so he could tend to his own son, just as Raph was already doing. Both of them still stayed close to their mates though. Raph even went so far to sit on the ground next to Cris with Thane in his lap. He stayed there until another welcome sight came into my view. Ratchet came around the building with more medics and a few stretchers. He looked a little wobbly himself, and so did Hide actually, but he was barking orders out left and right and the soldiers loaded up the stretchers and were almost ready to begin the trek to med-bay with them.

Ratchet turned to Hide, and ran right into Jolt who had walked up behind him. "Primus!" He snapped. "Will you get out of my way!"

"No." Jolt firmly said as he crossed his arms.

"What?"

"You heard me." He looked at the CMO a moment before he spoke again. "I hereby relieve you of any medical responsibilities until you have under gone a full physical yourself."

"What!?" This time it came out as a roar.

"I'm pulling rank on you."

"You can't do that!"

"Yes, I can. Protocol states that when the medical officer has under gone an injury he is to be pulled from duty until he is deemed fit to be able to resume his position, for the safety of said medical officer and any patients involved."

"I...what...you...since when!?" Ratchet spluttered.

"It's always been that way." Jolt calmly told him. "If you don't believe me I can have Prowl come over here and confirm it for you if you would like."

Ratchet just stared at him incredulously.

"Med-bay is that way." Jolt pointed towards the direction Ratchet had come from earlier. "I'll look you over as soon as I get done here."

Ratchet's mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to put some kind of sentence together.

"Yes?" Jolt raised a mechanical eyebrow. "Was there something?"

Throwing his hands up in the air in defeat, Ratchet just began to stomp off as he mumbled under his breath.

Jolt then turned his attention to Hide. "You, med-bay, now."

"Listen here youngling! Don't you tell me-"

"Now." Jolt said again not backing down. "Or I will find one of those devices that was used on you and knock you back on your aft then drag you there myself."

Hide blinked at that one, then followed Ratchet's lead and stomped away mumbling.

Jazz was laughing his ass off. "Not bad Jolt. Don' recall tha las' time someone did tha' tah both of 'em at tha same time."

Jolt shot him a wink. "Learned from the best." He then turned his attention to us as the troops carried the stretchers away. "I'd advise you to take the children around the back way." He told us. "Apparently Hide got a little carried away earlier and the courtyard in front of the buildings is not a pleasant sight right now." He shook his head then. "To be honest, I don't know how he managed to get back up. I had to personally reconnect some circuit lines on Blaster and Ratchet when we found them."

"I'm just glad he was able too." Leo told him and Jolt nodded his agreement.

"Hope he didn't do nothin' to them." Mikey muttered. "Be our luck that he turns them into zombies or something."

"Oh please." Leo rolled his eyes. "Are you seriously suggesting that Bishop has had time to even do something like that?"

"Hey...you never know."

"Been watching to many horror flicks again, haven't you?"

"No more than usual." Mikey shrugged.

"Which means zombiethons and you are going to be looking under your bed for them the next three months."

"Doesn't like zombies, huh?" Sides asked with a thoughtful look.

"Not really, but he insist on watching those crappy movies."

"Can we please just go inside." Caitlin asked from where she still clung to Mikey, keeping her eyes averted from...that spot.

Mikey just nodded as he led Caitlin around the back way and the rest of us followed. It had been a long night and I think we were all starting to feel it a little. I allowed myself to lean into Leo as we walked, his arm wrapped around my shoulder, taking comfort as I usually did in his presence. I was tired, but I wasn't really sure I would be able to sleep. To many things had happened tonight and my mind was still spinning over it all. I still couldn't quite believe what Hide had done, but a huge burden had been lifted off of my chest. A burden I wasn't sure I would ever be able to drop on my own. Again I felt the tears swell up in my eyes, and I let them fall. To me it felt like those tears washed away something that had been festering inside of me and I willingly let them.


	40. Chapter 40

Leo found sleep difficult to find the rest of that night, and it wasn't all from the fact of what had happened earlier. He looked a little bemused across his bed. A bed he had to shove all the way up against the wall to keep the sleeping bodies from falling off. Lavi and Ty were nestled between his legs and the wall, Dennis and Amy occupied the open side and he found himself propped up in the corner with Vicky nestled against him, fast asleep in his arms. If he so much as sneezed wrong somebody was going to fall off of something, but he didn't care. Didn't mind it one bit. Vicky shifted a little in her sleep and started to mumble something he couldn't quite understand. She seemed to do that a lot he noticed over the years. He just tightened his grip slightly and she settled back down with a sigh. No...he didn't mind this at all.

Once everything had calmed down again here in the privacy of their room, Dennis and Amy broke. They had clung to Leo and Vicky as they maneuvered the once again quiet hallways. The adults had just enough time to settle the twins back down to sleep before turning to see the elder children close to tears, the full realization of what they just saw hitting them. Leo had looked on with sympathy as they had to deal with the fact that they had to watch a human die. Not one of their fictional characters, but an actual living, breathing human. He wished so much that he could just go inside their minds and gently remove the images, but he couldn't and his heart broke at that fact.

He understood why Hide did what he did, the large bot really didn't have a choice really. If he didn't intervene the way he did, things more than likely would have ended completely different tonight, with Vicky, Caitlin and possibly the children being the casualties. Hide had acted in the only way he could to end that threat. Leo closed his eyes and sighed, guilt hitting him hard now. If he had just caught on sooner, or even took the time to find a way to kept the children completely away, then they wouldn't have lost their innocence tonight. That was a very bitter pill for him to swallow, and was another reason why he wasn't sleeping tonight.

He and Vicky had held the children as they cried, not really knowing what to say to them but offering their love and support as best as they could under these circumstances, but Leo wasn't sure if that would be enough. The children had ended up finally crying themselves to sleep and Leo had then carefully moved them to the bed before he and Vicky also settled down amongst the sleeping children. She had just held onto him as they laid there before she too finally drifted off. Leo couldn't. Even as tired as he was, sleep continued to elude him so he spent his quiet night just watching his sleeping family.

He smiled as he watched Lavi's thumb finally slip out of the sleeping girl's mouth and the hand fell to the bed. A habit both he and Vicky had tried to break, but tonight it touched him on a deeper level. He had almost lost all of this. Almost lost everything he held dear to him, so he figured the three year old could get away with that very minor infraction this one time.

Ty began flinging his arms around in his sleep and Leo gently shifted a leg to place his it between him and his twin so he wouldn't accidentally smack her. The boy soon settled back down and Leo moved that leg back into a more comfortable position.

And that's how he passed what was left of this night. Leo kept his silent watch as they slept, his eyes taking in every detail. He had prudently pulled the drapes closed before they went to bed in anticipation of them all sleeping in longer this morning. And it seemed that idea payed off as daylight began to filter in around the edges of it and not one of them was even close to waking up.

There was a very soft knock at the door and before he could even begin to figure out how to answer it without waking everyone up, it opened carefully and Will poked his head into the darkened room. "Hey, sorry to barge in like this." He said quietly after noticing Leo's predicament with a smile.

"It's fine." Leo replied just as quietly. "What's up?"

Will stepped into the room and closed the door back behind him before grabbing the chair and pulling it close to the bed, then sat in it. "Watching you huddled in your corner there is making me miss my own family a little." He admitted in a low tone.

"Maybe it's time you took some time off and went to go see them."

"Maybe." He sighed and leaned back into the chair. "Jolt sent me to tell you that the others are going to be released from his care soon. They seemed to come out of the mess pretty much unharmed besides the goose eggs they will be showing for a day or so." He then looked directly at Leo, his face taking on a serious tone. "I'm sorry for not asking your permission first, but I've arranged to set the kids up with some counseling. First sessions will start this afternoon once everyone has had a chance to rest up."

Leo was more shocked than angry. He still couldn't really get over the fact how much these guys actually did for them. "No...that's...it's fine Will." He finally managed to reply. "And thank you."

Will was quiet a moment as he watched Leo, who had to carefully maneuver limbs again around moving kids. "This is the part where I should extend the offer to you as well, but I have a bad feeling you are just going to turn me down if I did."

"Still being able to hold them is all the therapy I need."

"What? No enormous sense of guilt? Doubting the choices you made? No wondering if you could have done something better, different?"

Leo just stared at him...how in the...

Will just smiled as he caught the dumbfounded look on Leo's face. "You're not the only one who leads. I go through that everytime I lose a guy. You just happen to lead your family rather than a bunch of ragtag troops, so I would imagine this would hit you on a more personal level."

"It does." Leo admitted to him.

"Well, the help is there if you want it. Don't have to carry that burden alone you know. Not here anyway."

"I...I'll think about it." Leo told him and he honestly meant it.

Will just looked at him a moment longer before letting the matter drop. "Another reason I came by is that I was going to let you know we are going to start questioning some of our guests here soon. Since Bishop is more in your line of expertise, we were wondering if a few of you would mind sitting in."

Leo smiled as he looked over his current predicament. "A little hard right now for me to do that."

Will grinned. "I see that. No biggie. I'm sure we can wait until it's more convenient for you. Just let me know." He started to get up out of the chair.

"Will...wait a minute please." The major looked a little curiously at him while Leo quickly checked the bond to make sure Vicky wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. Again he smiled, nope, she was going to be out of it for awhile. "There was something I was wanting to talk to you about."

"Oh?"

Leo turned his head to face the man who was fast becoming, if not already was, one of his most trusted human friends. "My brothers, Jazz and I are working on something."

Will looked at him very curious now. "And?"

"Jazz is taking care of the Bot end of it, but I, we, need your help."

"Whatcha need?"

Leo smiled, then began to inform his friend what it was that was needed from him. By the time he was done Will had a large grin on his face. "That, I believe we can do." He said and this time Leo didn't stop him when he got up. "I'll get started on it right now actually." The soldier then put the chair back where he got it from and quietly left the room. Leo once again found himself looking over the sleeping forms on the bed and once again pulled Vicky a little closer to him before softly kissing her hair. Feeling a lot better after the last part of the conversation with Will, he finally was able to drift off to sleep himself.

.

.

"Poke her." I heard a whispered voice say.

"I'm not going to poke her, you poke her."

"Why do I have to poke her?"

"You're the one who wants them to wake up, you poke her."

"No one is going to poke anyone." Leo told my children as I felt him shift underneath me. "Why are you two even wanting to poke her?"

"We were bored and didn't know if we could go out to play." Dennis replied.

"How about something to eat first." I said as I wearily lifted my head off of Leo's chest.

"Not hungry." Came the double chime.

"Eat anyway."

"But we're not hungry!" Amy whined.

I looked at two sets of pleading puppy dog eyes, and gave in with a sigh. "Fine. Go find Mikey, it's his turn to watch you all outside."

"Yay!" They hooped as they shot out of the door that was left open in their wake. A few moments later I heard them banging on the door to Mikey and Caitlin's room.

Didn't take long for Mikey to pop his head into our room as I was still struggling to wake up. "Caitlin and I are going to take them to med-bay and get them out of their pjs and into some clothes then take them out to the playground. Seems they have some energy to burn off."

"You noticed." I said drily.

He grinned and winked before he slipped back out of the room.

All that commotion of course woke up the sleeping twins and they began to sit up on the bed, wiping the sleep from their eyes. I was still absently looking out the door way the older kids had left out of as I picked Ty up and put him in my lap. Then I just wrapped my arms around him and held him for a bit. He didn't seem to mind, but then he was like that. So much like his father, even at this wiggly age. I had to break my hold on him though when the call of nature happened. "Gotta go to the bafroom."

I smiled and put him down and he scurried off to the small attached bathroom. I turned to go get Lavi, and found her already in Leo's arms, and him watching me. "You sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine Leo. Just a few bruises is all."

"Not what I meant dear one." He shifted Lavi around in his lap. "You seem a little concerned about them." His head nodded towards the open door.

I smiled a small smile at him. "Am I that obvious about it again?"

"Not really." Ty came out of the bathroom and Leo put Lavi down so she could take her turn. "It's just that I know I am, and I know you well enough to know that you are too."

"Then why did you even ask?"

"Habit I suppose." He shrugged. "Will stopped by earlier."

"And what did the good Major want?" I asked as I stood up, stretching all the kinks out. Man...sleeping with six individuals in a bed that wasn't quite big enough really does a number on you.

"A couple of things actually, but one of them was to offer the kids some help to deal with this." He smiled then. "Actually, he's already set it up."

I blinked. "He what? Are you serious?"

"Very. They start this afternoon."

I sighed as I plopped my backside back down on the bed. "You know, when this started we were supposed to be helping them...why does it seem like they are doing more for us than we did for them?"

"Because you are not used to having this large of a support system." Sally answered as she stood leaning on the door frame. "You are so used to having to deal with these issues alone that it feels strange when you have this kind of thing readily available."

"Think that might sum it up well enough." Leo smiled at her.

"I know that sums it up." She winked at him. "They accepted you as part of the team, that includes all the services that are offered to the regular guys. Don't feel guilty just because something happened to where you actually need them." She pushed off of the door frame and stepped inside, stopping to pick Lavi up who just came out of the bathroom. "Good morning cutie."

"Morning Sally."

"Any special reason for this visit?" I asked her with a smile. "Or did you just want to come kidnap my daughter?"

"Well...she is adorable... Actually just wanted to come see if you guys were up and ready to face the day yet. Will is having a hard time keeping Hide away from the detainees. Guess the big guy didn't get to stomp enough bad guys last night."

"We're coming." Leo told her.

"I'll take the kiddos and get them dressed for you."

"Mikey has the other two. He should either be in med-bay or out by the playground." I told her and she just nodded as she led the twins away.

After getting dressed Leo and I went looking for Will and found him in the detention area, or the brig as they all seemed to call it here. "No Hide." Will was saying to Hide's holoform as we entered. "I'd really rather you not step on some more if we can avoid it."

"Someone getting an itchy trigger foot?" Leo asked amused as we walked up.

"Yeah. Seems to think if he stomps on a few more it would make the rest talk."

"Eww..." I let slip out.

Will chuckled. "We did manage to figure out who to talk to though, but so far he isn't talking."

"Where is he?" Leo asked.

"In the interview room at the end of the hall." Will said as he fell into step beside us. "He was the one in charge of the guys that slipped in last night. We've pretty much tried everything, but he won't open up."

Leo's eyes narrowed at that, but he didn't say anything. I was however getting some quiet instructions. "Ooooh boy..." I mumbled to myself as Hide chuckled behind me.

"What?" Will asked.

"Nothing." I replied.

He gave me and Hide a suspicious look but we entered the room before he could say anything.

Leo's eyes quickly searched the room and found the man. He was sitting at the table across from the door, handcuffed, with Epps hovering next to him.

"Oh please. I didn't break from the threat of that big tin can wanting to stomp me into a puddle, what makes you think he's going to change anything?" The man sneered.

Neither Will nor Epps had time to say anything before Leo took action, with a couple of quick flicks, one kunai had embedded itself into the table right between the man's hands and another one missed his head by a few inches and embedded itself into the wall. I firmly placed my arm on Will's to hold him back as Hide's holoform intervened with Epps. Both of them really not expecting Leo to do what he just did, and he wasn't even finished yet. As the man's face paled at how close he had come to needing stitches, Leo reached him, grabbed him by the throat, lifted him out of the chair and slammed him against the wall.

"Fuck!" Epps exclaimed. "C'mon man! We got guidlines to follow! We can't do that shit!"

"I don't follow under your protocols." Leo snapped at him before glaring at the man he held up off of the floor. "You _will_ tell me what I want to know." He growled at the man. "You come here, injure members of my family," Leo slammed him into the wall again "threaten to shoot _my_ mate," Even I had to wince a little at the force of the slam this time "and dare to try and harm _my_ children and the children of my brothers!" Leo literally threw the dude across the room. He hit the far wall hard and slid to the floor. Didn't stay there long though as Leo picked him right back up, slamming him into the wall yet again. This time a third kunai appeared in his hand and ended up against the guy's throat. "You either talk or I turn you into another pile of dead meat on the floor, and I promise you it won't be as quick as what happened to Bishop."

"You can't let him do this!" The guy screeched at the rest of us, his eyes bulging out of his head. "There are rules against this kind of shit!"

"Dude is right." Epps said. "Not really under my command so he doesn't fall under our jurisdiction." He looked at the still fuming Leo. "And I ain't dumb enough to try and stop him."

Will was next to me making strangling noises at what was going on. Don't think he really expected this. He calmed down a little when Epps winked at him and it dawned on him what Leo was actually trying to do here. "Sorry." Will shrugged to the guy. "You're on your own on this one."

"You can't do this..." He tried again only to be slammed into the wall once more before Leo pushed the kunai a little closer to his neck.

"Talk." Leo snarled at him. "Or I'll make you wish Ironhide _would_ step on you."

"I'll talk! I'll tell you anything you want!" The guy almost babbled out.

Leo glared at him for a moment before spinning and throwing the guy back into his chair, toppling him and it both over with the force of the throw. I winced again, was pretty sure he was going to need a medic after this.

"Ok, now that we got that settled." Will picked up a device that was sitting on the table. "What exactly is this?"

After that, he was very forthcoming with information, and Leo standing there like the doorman to hell helped matters along. Everytime he tried to stall at a question from Will or Epps, Leo would send another kunai flying, narrowly missing something important on the man and he would trip over his own words trying to talk quick enough. All in all it was a very informative couple of hours. The only downside to it all was the fact by the time we were done the man needed some more pants, because Leo literally scared the piss out of him.


	41. Chapter 41

Leo was still in a surly mood as we walked out of the interview room. Hide had literally dragged the guy out to put him back into his cell and we followed them out shortly after. Will and Epps were kinda eyeballing him as we walked, not quite sure what to make of this side of him.

"Hey man, you can drop the 'Good cop, bad cop' act." Epps finally said as we left the building.

"I wasn't acting." Leo flatly told him and Epps swallowed hard.

"Kinda hopin' you was..."

"Remind me never to piss you off." Will muttered.

"Then don't try to harm my family." Leo replied darkly "Especially the children."

"Something tells me Bishop got off lucky..." Epps said...putting some distance between him and Leo.

"You have no idea."

"Oh...I think I do."

Leo just grunted and kept walking in silence after that.

We arrived in the control room not long after that to find a small crowd waiting for us. Was the usual group, Prime, Jazz, Blaster, Sally and Hide was on the way. Then you had a few of my family hanging around, all of them really except Caitlin and Mikey. The former because she didn't feel comfortable in these discussions unless her area of expertise was needed, and it was Mikey's turn to babysit still.

"And how many did Hide have to squish?" Blaster grinned as we walked in.

"None actually." Epps replied. "Turns out Hide wasn't the scary one."

"Oh? You mean there is someone scarier than him?"

Will and Epps both pointed to Leo as he walked across the room to his usual spot. "Don't get him mad." Epps warned. "Might be missing some body parts if ya do."

"Does he even get mad?" Blaster asked. "Never seen him really even raise his voice."

Will just nodded. "He reminded the guy why it was a bad idea to go near his family. Makes what Vicky did to those guys last night that tried to get the kids look like little booboos in comparison."

"Ah..." Marina smiled. "I've been on the wrong end of that temper before. I can just about imagine what happened."

Leo actually smiled back as he fondly looked in her direction. "Yes, you have. But you have since made up for that numerous times over."

"And it only took me turning into a monster for you to even let her get close." Donnie mumbled. "I knew there was something special about her right away."

"Yeah, but it also took that to happen for her to see it for herself." Raph nudged him. "Just because _you_ thought she was fit for the family didn't mean she was ready to be apart of it yet."

"Am I missing something here?" Will asked confused.

"It's one of those long stories that I really don't feel like telling right now." Raph told him. "Mainly because it wasn't exactly a fun time."

"You can say that again." Cris mumbled, absently rubbing her chest right where her scar was.

"Anyway," Will tossed something to Jazz "this is the thing that they used to ambush the bots with last night. From what we were told it was made by the Cons to help take us out." Then he tossed another device to him. "And that one is the cloaking device thingamabob that managed to sneak them in in the first place, also a gift from the Cons."

"Was wonderin' 'bout that." Jazz muttered as he looked them over.

"Well, wonder no more."

"Can you do something with them?" Prime asked the small Bot.

"Tha cloakin' one mor'n'likely. Ah'll take dis bitch 'part an' see how she works, then come up with somethin' tah counter it. Ratchet migh' wanna look over tha otha one tho'. More in his area of operations since it seems tah mess up tha insides. But fairly sure they won' be useful ta tha Con's again."

"No more midnight sneak attacks?" Cris asked.

"Not wit these." Jazz reassured her.

"What else were you able to get out of him?" Raph asked.

"Quite a bit actually." Will pulled out a piece of paper he had been scribbling on during the friendly chat session and handed it to Sally. "All the bases that Bishop has been playing around in. All the ones he knew of anyway. I do believe you might want to get in touch with someone to go breaking the doors in."

"Might lead a team or two myself." She said as she tucked it away. "Since I didn't get to bash on Bishop personally, might as well bash up his operations."

"Just don't let Donnie go with you." Raph grinned. "He likes to blow them up instead of bash them up."

"Do you mind?" Donnie said acidly.

"Not at all."

"Enough you two." Leo cut quietly in. "We're not finished yet, save the jokes for later."

"Good luck with that, they never shut up." I mumbled and Epps grinned at me.

"What about his research?" Prime asked. "Were you able to gain any information on that?"

"Yes and no. He does admit to knowing about Bishop's plan." Will looked at Donnie then. "You and Caitlin hit it right on. He was trying to create a hybrid, but has been unable to actually make a working specimen. There was something in the mix that kept going wrong, but our friend wasn't sure exactly what. Wasn't in his department."

Donnie rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment before he turned to Sally. "You might want to get your hands on any computers you can of his. It might be best to keep what he has worked on so far out of the hands of those who might try and continue the experiments. This one and any other sick things he might have thought up."

Hide came in then, chuckling. "Think that was the first time I have experienced an adult human lubricating himself. Was quite amusing."

"Say what?" Came from Casey.

"Oh, we didn't mention that?" Epps grinned. "Leo scared him so bad the dude pissed his pants."

"He didn't!" Casey laughed.

"Oh yes he did." Epps told him.

They all looked at Leo, who just shrugged. "Not my fault he has a weak bladder."

"I even kept my composure better than that." Marina shook her head as the room erupted in laughter.

Once everyone had settled down again, Leo took up the conversation again before the interruption. "What are the chances of the Cons trying to finish off what Bishop started?"

"Tha might depen' on how much was actually shared with them." Jazz told him. "If Bishop had a loose yapper, Shockwave is mor'n capable enough tah finish it."

"What about that mind machine thingy?" Casey asked. "Any idea on if they have another one?"

"Doubtful, but anything is possible I guess." Donnie leaned back in his chair. "The prototypes that were stolen were just that, prototypes. There were only one of each of them functioning, and since it seems that the parts they needed only came from those specific devices, it's fairly safe to assume they won't be able to build another one."

"What if he reverse engineers the parts?" Sally asked him. "He seems smart enough to be able to do that."

"True, but the components themselves were for the most part very rare, and the locations on all of them are very well documented. Unless he plans on literally starting from scratch, he's going to have a hard time getting it all together now that we know what they have been up too."

"Still, it might not be a bad idea to either up the security on those items or flat out destroy them." Leo added.

"_That_ is going to piss off a shit load of researchers." Will sighed.

"I'd rather have upset ones than mindless ones." Leo pointed out. "The researchers themselves might actually become targets now honestly. Depending on how desperate the Cons are."

"Hard to tell with those glitches." Hide told him. "Depends on Megatron's mood."

"That is true." Prime let out a sigh. "He can at times be very patient but then at others he lets his impatience show."

"Might have something to do with the fact that he is just a friggin' nutcase." Cris grumbled.

Blaster had a thoughtful look on his face. "What if we bugged the whole system to where if they did try to rebuild it, it all falls apart on them?"

"Am I the only one who got lost on that one?" Casey looked more than a little confused. I was too honestly.

"What I'm getting at is this. We set up some kind of trojan virus and get it into their systems. One that deletes every bit of information on this wonder mind melting machine every time they try to build it."

"Expand the coding of the virus to include the data from Bishop's research too." Donnie added. "Just to be on the safe side."

"Ya'd hav' tah get it past Soundwave." Jazz reminded him.

"Oh please." Blaster snorted. "He may be a wonder at detecting communications, to the Cons anyway, but he isn't so smart when it comes to actually finding bugs when the bug carrier hates him."

"Confusing me again." Casey griped.

"Simple." Blaster grinned. "Any good trojan needs an empty headed horse to carry it. You just need to find someone stupid enough to sneak it in for you."

"And please tell me, who would be dumb enough to do that?"

This time I grinned as the answer popped right into my head. Cris caught it and her grin was just as wide and Hide began laughing. Leo just groaned. "I know just the one." I told the rest of them. "And that one is on my personal shit list. I still owe him for that wonderful flight I took."

"Starscream." Blaster grinned at me. "Was just the one I was thinking of too. He and Soundwave hate each other so much that Screamer will go out of his way to avoid Soundwave. By the time they catch on, the bug will more than likely be into the systems."

"Can you even do that?" Casey asked. "I mean, if the guy is as smart as you say...he might notice and figure out how to stop it."

"I think I can find away around that." Donnie said thoughtfully. "Give me some time to work on it and I'll come up with something he won't be able to find, no matter how good he is."

"Are you seriously suggesting that you are smarter than a robot who has been living for who knows how long?"

"Smarter? No. Seen more dimensions than him? Yes. I do know that no two dimensions are exactly alike. The trackers for the rings operate on a frequency that just does not exist here for some reason, and only is detectable because I had to specially program and build the receivers for that frequency from some things her brother had just laying around his place. I couldn't do it on my own stuff, it just wouldn't work. Let me do some research and see what nasty stuff I can turn loose on them from Vicky's home dimension."

"Ok, so that leaves us with the problem of finding the moron." Raph pointed out.

"Good luck with that part. Everyone knows he is notoriously skittish." Cris said drily. "He'll only risk his backside if he can gain something good from it at a low risk."

"Leak something out." Marina suggested.

"Like what?"

"I dunno. Let it slip that you are transporting something of importance, then bug him when he comes to get it."

"And what in the world would be important enough for him to risk his neck to try and attack us for it?"

"Bishop's data sounds about good enough."

"Are you nuts!?"

"I didn't say it had to be the _real_ data Cris." Marina patiently told her. "Just make it _look_ like it's the real stuff."

"That might just do it." Blaster mused. "But we would have to be very careful to make sure he's the one who actually gets the information and no one else."

"You got all of those spy satellites up there, use them. And when you find him, drop an info beacon on him or something. He can't hide forever and he is bound to come out sooner or later."

"That would involve a lot of monitoring, and would need more than just one Bot to do it." Blaster sighed.

"Got nothin' better ta do anyway." Jazz told him. "Might as well give it ah go."

"Now the question is...who is the idiot dumb enough to go out there and get ambushed?"

"Gotta be someone he ain't scared of."

"Well, that rules Hide out."

"And the twins."

"Tha terror twins maybe, still got 'nother set."

"Oh for the love of Primus..." Hide mumbled. "You are actually considering sending those two buffoons out there?"

Blaster shrugged. "We need idiots...Skids and Mudflap _are_ idiots..."

"Ok, then who is going to go with them to keep them from fucking it up?" Epps asked then.

The room was deathly quiet.

"Don't everyone volunteer at once." Epps muttered.

"I'll do it." I sighed.

"Not alone." Leo quickly stated firmly. "I'm going with you."

"All right then." Blaster said. "Let's hop to it. The quicker we get this done the quicker we can move on to more festive mat-" He was cut off as Hide kicked him. "Ow!"

"Can it motormouth." Hide mumbled to him.

I also noticed the guys all glaring at him. Was I missing something here? I looked curiously around but no one seemed to want to fill me in. It was at that point Leo quickly crossed the room, grabbed my arm and began to lead me out the door. "Come on dear one. It's time for the kids to meet the counselor."

Curiosity was eating at me now and I looked at Leo for an explanation, but I knew I wasn't going to get one if the determined set of his features were anything to go by. I had a sneaky feeling they were up to something, I just couldn't figure out what.


	42. Chapter 42

One of these days I was going to take my mouth, enormous amounts of superglue...and glue it shut. _Why_ did I always volunteer for this crap?

"Nuh uh! Tha fragger ain' gonna show!" Skids was saying to Mudflap. "His chicken shit ass gonna be too scared."

**-He ain' gonna be scared of you-** Mudflap responded. **-And Ima haveta come in and save yo dumbass!-**

"Who you callin' a dumbass you dumbass!"

**-You... Dumbass.-**

"Guys..." I tried to intervene as Leo let out a resigned sigh next to me.

"I'll show ya dumbass, ya fuckhead!" Skids rammed into his twin who was driving next to us.

**-That tha best ya got?-** Mudflap came back with his retaliation bump, sending Skids swerving to the side. **-Lameass pasy motherfucker!-**

"Um, guys...we are going-" I tried again.

"Was that supo'se ta hurt?" Skids crashed into him again and Leo groaned this time, dropping his head into his palm.

**-I'll show ya hurt!-** Another crash.

Seriously fed up by now with these two, I took out an asp, popped it open and slammed it onto the dashboard as hard as I could.

"OW!" Skids exclaimed as he skidded to a stop. "Whatcha do that for?"

"Because you wouldn't shut up!" I yelled at him. "And we are going the wrong way you fucking idiots!"

"Why didncha say so?"

"I tried!" Had to restrain myself from whacking him again. "Now turn your childish asses around!"

"A'ight already...sheesh...crazy ass female..." Ok, I did smack him that time. "Ow! Stop it! Ya gettin' 'bout as bad as Hide!"

"And I fully understand now why he does it too!"

Grumbling, Skids turned around and we were soon heading in the right direction. Only took me about five miles to bring the fact up to them. Was a little impressed over that actually.

It had taken us a few days to get ready for this, and the main reason was because Donnie, Bee and Hide had to go all the way back home, pick up some stuff from my dimension then had to come back here with it. He had brought back a whole crateful of crap and it seemed a little overkill to me now as I looked at the small device in my hand. You would have thought he was trying to move the whole lab here or something. All of that effort, just to come up with this small little thing that fit in the palm of my hand.

Finding Screamer had taken another day or so before he emerged on our radars and Blaster quickly 'leaked' out the information to where he would pick it up, the rest was a matter of getting these two dipshits to stop fighting long enough for this to work. And that was the hardest part of the whole damn thing.

We were about fifty miles or so out, heading in Screamer's last known direction and those fifty miles came close to making me want to admit myself as a patient in the nearest loony bin. Not even Mikey was _this_ annoying...

I was to the point where I was about to smack Skids again when Leo caught my hand. He didn't even look at me as he did, his eyes were focused on a small black dot on the horizon. "He's coming." Was all Leo said.

"Time tah bust up some Con ass!" Skids exclaimed.

This time Leo smacked him. "Pay attention!" He snapped. "And remember-"

"Yeah yeah...I know. Keep 'em busy while ya plant tha gizmo."

"Aaaaaand?"

"Make sure he get's tha dummy box."

The 'dummy box' was a briefcase that held the made up information on it. Jazz and Donnie had came up with that one. If the Con's tried to do anything with the information actually on there the worst they could do was come up with some stink bomb formulas. _That_ one had been Casey's idea.

"Get ready." Leo told me then and I nodded, I scooted over to where I was on his lap and he wrapped an arm around my waist, not taking his eyes off of the incoming Con. The twins kept speeding right towards him and right before the Con took his first shot, Skids slammed on the brakes, his door opening as Leo made a wild leapt out of the vehicle, taking me with him. My job was to hold onto this nice little present we made for him and the briefcase.

He hit the ground in a roll just as the twins transformed up into Bot mode, taking potshots at the seeker as he flew in closer. "Screeeeaaaaamer!" Skids taunted. "Is a busted up ol' beeeeaaaaamer!"

"That's an insult to BMWs." I muttered to Leo as we scrambled out of the way. Then I quickly handed him the device and he moved away with it.

"And he doesn't have a weeeeaaaaner!" Mudflap chipped in.

"You insolent twits!" Starscream snarled as he hit the ground in front of them. "Give me the information."

"I'll give ya my foot up yo ass!" Mudflap told him.

"One double asswhoopin', comin' righ' up!" Skids dove in, and promptly got smacked back.

"Hey! No one hit's on him but me!" Mudflap went in next and got the same treatment, tripping over his brother as Skids was trying to get back up.

Starscream walked up, raising a blaster as he did. "Now, give me the information!"

"I don' have it." Mudflap held his hands out wide. "See?" He turned looked at Skids "You were the one carrying it."

"Well I don't have it." Skids replied.

"Did you lose it, ya moron?"

"Moron! I'll show you moron, you dipshit."

"You tha dipshit-"

"Enough!" Starscream thundered. He was so focused on the twins he didn't notice Leo sneaking in behind him. "Where is it?"

"I dunno." They both chimed together.

"It's gotta be around here somewhere." Skids scratched his head as he looked around, then back at Mudflap. "Ya sure you don' got it?"

"Yes I'm sure. How stupid do ya think I am?"

"About as dumb as him." Skids pointed to Starscream.

"Gaaaah!" Screamer screamed. "I've had about enough of you bumbling Autobots! If you don't tell me where it is..." We all got his point as his weapon began to whine as he charged it.

"We ain't got it ya dipshit!" Mudflap rolled his eyes at him.

"Fine, enjoy your trip to the Pit."

"Why we gotta go to tha pit? That's reserved for you stinkin' Cons."

I saw Leo dart quickly away from behind Starscream and now it was my turn. I ran over to stand beside the twins before Starscream could unleash his anger out on them. "Hey Doritohead!" I yelled as I ran closer. "Leave them alone! I have it right here!" I held the briefcase up to where he could see it.

His eyes narrowed at me once he noticed who it actually was that he was dealing with. "You again?" His weapon swung towards me. "I should blast you to little bits for what you did to me last time."

"Go ahead idiot." I told him, waving the case. "And see if you don't blow this up too."

"Give it to me!"

"Yeah, yeah...I heard you the first three times." Now I was in a bit of a predicament here, I fully expected him to shoot us as soon as that case left my hand. A reassuring thought, a couple actually, flittered across my mind just then. "Fine, you want the thing, here. But you have to promise you won't shoot." I knew he wouldn't keep that promise, but I was stalling for just a little bit more time.

"Of course I won't shoot." Came his deceptively, almost sweet sounding, reply. Pfft...

"Uh huh." I mumbled to myself before I threw the case at him.

He caught it, and gave me a nasty grin as he charged his weapon again. "I lied."

"I figured as much." I told him. It was right about then that Leo came in from the side. Didn't do much but run up to him and jab his katanas into some sensitive spots he could reach, distracting him enough to where I could haul ass out of there as Screamer looked down in surprise, with a yip of pain, at the turtle. Leo just looked right back up at him, shrugged, then turned and ran like hell. Screamer started to shoot at him a couple of times and Leo was dodging them much the same way Mikey was dodging Sunny's blast's when we first got here.

"Whoa! Look at turtle man go!" Skids hooped.

"Cover him you idiots!" Roared across the desert then as Hide's familiar voice made it's appearance before he did, popping out of thin air with Jazz right next to him. Both of them moving towards the little scuffle taking place.

"Oh...yeah!" Came from Mudflap before they started doing just that. Their idea of covering Leo was to just run up and push Screamer over.

I would have facepalmed if I wasn't to busy running towards the new arrivals. Jazz skidded to a stop, throwing dust and dirt flying everywhere as Hide kept going and I dove into the opened door that was offered to me. "I'm sooo glad you got your shield working again." I told him as I collapsed against his driver's seat.

He just laughed as he swung around the others to go pick up Leo. Leo dived in as quick as I did, this time not getting hung up in the doorframe with his weapons. I think they were all getting used to figuring out how to fit their large frames in various Autobots by this point. "Ya move jus' as quick as Mikey." Jazz chuckled.

"Only when I don't want to get my backside blown off." Came the rueful reply.

Screamer knocked the twins back and noticed black doom approaching towards him, right as Hide crashed into him, sending him bouncing and rolling away. He came up cursing, took a quick look at the new odds, that were not in his favor, picked up the briefcase he had dropped, and exited the scramble in true Starscream fashion. As quick as he possibly could.

"Well, that part worked." I said as we watched the Con fly off. I looked at Leo. "You did manage to place it on him right?"

"Of course." He calmly replied as we drove off. "Those two are good for something after all." Leo chuckled. "They had his full attention."

"'Bout tha only thin' they good for." Jazz mumbled.

After a nice ride back to base, nice for the simple reason Hide was the one stuck dealing with the twins this time not us, we entered the base and Jazz pulled up to a stop in front of the control room and we got out and made our way inside.

"Well?" I asked as we went in.

"He's still got it." Blaster pointed to the large screen, where I could clearly see a dot moving across it. "And he's still in flight."

"Wonder where he is headed?" I mumbled to no one in particular.

"We'll find out soon enough." Donnie said "That tracker I built in has a good enough boost to where we can follow him pretty much anywhere."

"A wasted opportunity here." Hide grumbled. "We could have followed him to their base and wiped it out."

"I think that is a small price to pay for not letting them continue along the lines of this research." Prime told him and Hide just grunted in reply. Donnie however let out a quiet chuckle. I gave him a curious look and he just winked at me in return.

After about another half hour the beacon stopped moving. After it stayed put awhile we assumed he had reached his destination. "Zoom in on that if you can." Donnie told Jazz. "Let's see what we got here."

Jazz just nodded and pushed a few buttons and the screen zoomed in, showing us the location of the current Con base. It was what appeared to me to be an old abandoned mine shaft in the Rocky Mountains somewhere. "Holy motha of mayhem." Jazz said. "That's a lot of Cons."

I had to agree, there were a large amount of them wandering around out there. Even if we did go after them with all of the Bots, I wasn't sure we would win this one. Maybe not following Screamer had been a good decision after all.

"I have a feeling we just found their main base." Came from Leo.

"Looks like it." Blaster agreed. He then looked at a smaller screen next to him. "Well, he sure didn't waste anytime. The device just activated. They are trying to access the data already." He played around with the controls a bit, then brought up another picture. "This is what they are seeing right now."

"You can do that?" Casey asked.

"Only because we were able to slip that in. I wanted to make sure everything wiped out, so I added my own little hack in there."

We quietly watched as the data was pulled up, and just as quickly disappeared. This happened a few times and I was chuckling at the determined Cons. No matter how hard they tried to put everything together...it just kept erasing.

"Anyone want to take bets on how pissed Megatron is right now?" Blaster chuckled.

"I can see Screamer dodging around a little bit." Cris grinned.

"Oh...this is getting interesting now. Shockwave himself is trying to pull it up now." Blaster pointed to the change in what looked like just a bunch of scribbly lines to me. "That's him trying to override the delete coding."

"Will he be able to do it?" I asked.

Blaster laughed. "No. Donnie was right, neither he nor Soundwave know what to look for to stop it. But Shockwave himself is in for a nice surprise."

"Oh?"

Blaster grinned a nasty grin. "I was actually hoping he would give it a go, because it will wipe it from his personal memory too."

All of a sudden anymore attempts to pull up the information just...stopped and the screen was blank and still. "Ah woul' say it worked." Jazz grinned. "Mission ahcomplished."

"Not quite." Donnie said quietly, still watching the screen.

"Oh?"

"Just wait." He grinned. "I added a little something myself."

Suddenly a picture of the 80's cartoon version of Donnie appeared onto the screen, waving at whoever was viewing it. Then the words "Have an explosive afternoon!" popped up below it. I facepalmed.

Suddenly the screen fizzled out. Then a few seconds later a bright orange and yellow wall of flame came shooting out of the entrance of the mine shaft, throwing Cons every which way. It didn't take long after that for the whole thing to collapse on itself before a landslide started rolling down the mountain, burying Cons who weren't quick enough to move out of the way.

We all looked at Donnie as he leaned back into his chair, propping his feet up on the panel in front of him. "Now it's mission accomplished." He said as he clasped his hands behind his head.


	43. Chapter 43

I looked out over the playground, my thoughts kinda of just wandering on their own. I smiled a bit sadly as the kids, Caitlin and Marina scampered around the playground, their times out here playing in to open like this was seemingly fast approaching an end.

Bishop was gone. And the Cons, the ones that were left after Donnie's explosion, had been quiet ever since their base went up in flames and buried under a decent amount of mountain. Any reason we had to come out here and help was now pretty much taken care of and more than likely we would be going home soon. I think the only reason we were still here in the first place was so the children could finish with their counseling sessions. Once they were done, there was no reason to stay anymore.

It wasn't much of an ending to this adventure compared to some of the others we had and it actually felt like a bit of a letdown. Teams had been sent out to try and dig up the remains of the base Donnie had managed to single handedly destroy in his biggest explosion yet, but hadn't managed to find anything really. Between the treacherous landscape and the risk of more of the now unstable mountainside collapsing, they had to call the search off after a few days, with no confirmation on if the leaders had been taken out. Megatron and the others could still very much be alive and out there, we just didn't know at this point.

I sighed as I leaned back into my wobbly bench. So much had happened on this trip. Some bad, but there was more than enough good that out weighed it. Leo and I were still together and our bond was so much stronger than before. He trusted me with all of his emotions and thoughts now, not just the positive ones. Him letting me in to see them actually endeared him more to me. I had always trusted him fully and didn't have any problems letting him see my fears and insecurities, and he had accepted it all. Now I was able to do the same for him. Ease his fears, his worries, let him see that I loved him just the same for them. I didn't feel like the weak one of us anymore, didn't feel like I was the nutcase who always needed comforting. We were now fully equals, if that makes sense how I'm trying to explain this. Now, if I could just figure out what he was hiding in that small little corner of his mind that was closed off from me.

And our friends that we made here, I would miss them so much. I've grown fond of all of them but there were a few I would miss terribly. Hide, for instance. He had always been my favorite Bot, and this ring had allowed me to see more than the grouchy kickass side of him. He had moments I was allowed to see that not many others did. He could be gentle, caring and very overprotective depending on the situation. I would miss that closeness with him, I teared up just thinking about it as I twirled my ring around my finger. I hadn't yet given the device back to Ratchet, and I was seriously stalling on doing it. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to him like that just yet.

Bee and Mikey had also grown close. They spent so much of their free time together, driving around and hanging out. Bee's company had actually made the youngest turtle more easy to live with. If he got bored, Bee was always up to something fun so he didn't have to pester the rest of us so much. And nine times out of ten they managed to run off with the kids. Couldn't find them? Just go hunt Bee down and you'll find them.

Jazz and Donnie worked so well together that by now one knew what the other was getting at with just a few spoken words. Add Blaster into the mix and you had the three tinkerers coming up with all kinds of shit. I pitied the Con who came up against some of those ideas in the future.

Then you had the terror twins. I smiled again just thinking about them. They were wild, obnoxious, annoying, cocky but turned out to be a very loyal pair of friends. Not only engaging in Mikey's prank war, and bringing smiles and laughs to the rest of us, but towards the end there they actually seemed to let us see the soft spot they had towards the children, especially Thane. If Bee wasn't out there guarding the kids as they played, more than likely it was the twins or Hide. Even now Sunny and Sides were leaning on the wall nearby, eyes watchful. I would forever hold Sides in debt for the first base attack when he had engaged the Con that tried to take Ratchet out. If he hadn't, things might have ended differently. Cris and Leo had spent some time closeted up with them earlier today, but neither one of them were talking about what was discussed. Not sure if I even wanted to know.

A shadow fell across me and I looked up, knowing it was Leo even before I did. I really loved this bond. He was always close to me. "Hey, feeling a little down I'm noticing."

"It's just always hard to say good bye." I told him quietly. "And I know it's getting to that point."

"I know, dear one." He sat down next to me, and the bench creaked alarmingly under his weight. He ignored the noise and wrapped an arm around me then pulled me close. We just sat there quietly, watching the children play.

Thane came running up to Sunny then. "Funfreaker! Come play with us!"

Sunny smacked the snickering Sides. "What do you want to play?"

Thane looked up at him with those wide innocent eyes. "Bee busy. Can you give me a ride?"

I held my breath, waiting for the tears to come because I was sure he would say no. I was shocked beyond words when he transformed down...and opened his door. With a squeal of delight Thane climbed in before the door snapped shut behind him. Moments later he was spinning wide circles around the playground with a widely grinning Thane at the wheel.

"I can't believe what I'm seeing." I mumbled to Leo as we watched.

"Not sure I can either." He replied.

Our amazement turned to shock when the bench finally decided that it had had enough. We hit the ground hard, the sounds of Sides laugher filling our ears.

.

.

Later that afternoon we were walking with Donnie, Raph, Mikey and the same set of twins down one of the hallways. It was time to give Ratchet back his gadget. Hide was already there waiting for us so Donnie could get his receiver back.

I was more than a little shocked to find Cris lying in med bay on a stretcher. "What's wrong with her?"

"Said she isn't feeling to good." Ratchet answered me.

We all walked over to her. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

She was holding her hands to her head. "It hurts..."

"Donnie, she's broken. Think you need to fix her bro." Mikey grinned.

"Ooo puuuuurrple tuuuurrttlee." Cris said in a singsong voice. "Come 'ere puuuuurple tuuuurtle!" She had a wierd look on her face. Good lord...now what were they doing? "So pretty..."

"I'm not going anywhere near that...she looks like she's going to eat me..." Donnie mumbled. As soon as he said that, Mikey's face paled and he began to back up.

"Mmmm..." Cris licked her lips and crocked her finger at Donnie. Mikey just kept slowly backing up.

Raph walked over and gave her a light smack upside the head. "Snap outta it you idiot."

"Eek! Bah! Get back! Red means stop! But green means go... Hmmm. You're a walking conundrum. A living breathing oxymoron."

Raph rolled his eyes at her.

Mikey cracked up laughing then, but he still kept his distance. "Dude! I knew it! If she hangs with you to long she was going to go crazy!

Cris pointed at Mikey. "You're just a moron."

"Hey...I resemble that remark..." He said with a grin. Oh good lord...

Cris gve Mikey her best hungry Zombie look. "I'm hungry Mikey, I need more brains." She ended it with another creepy smile.

Mikey's grin quickly disappeared at that point.

"Sure you want that brain though?" Leo asked with a small smile.

She got up out of the streatcher and began to hobble towards Mikey moaning "Braaaaiinnnsss..."

Raph smacked her again. "Seriously...stop being an idiot." Mikey was looking like he was about ready to bolt out of there.

Cris finally lost her patience with the big dummy. "Look fucktard, I'm trying to help the twins prank your brother, so thanks for ruining it and if you fucking hit me again I'll kill you in your goddamn sleep! GOT IT?!"

Raph rolled his eyes as she began to walk off. Donnie and Leo were trying very hard not to laugh. Mikey just stood there looking all confused.

Suddenly a boot came flying in and hit Raph in the back of the head. "Stop rolling your goddamn eyes! Fucking kill joy! I should have listened to the Facebook quiz!"

Yup...Leo and Donnie lost it as they bust out into laughter.

"I'll show you kill joy..." He grumbled as he stalked in on her.

Cris smiled before pulling a giant water roach out of her pocket and held it threateningly towards Raph. "I don't think so hot stuff... You just ruined my day. Want me to return the favor Mr. Slap Happy? This little bugger sure is wiggly. Bet he could get all up in that shell. Wanna see?" Now she was stalking in on him.

Would you believe Raph actually pulled out a damn can of Raid? What the hell was wrong with these two? Since when they start carrying bugs and Raid on them?

Cris narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't. That's poison dumbass." He just gave her an evil grin. "So now your hitting me and trying to poison me? What a winner."

"You got mutagen in you...you'll heal fast."

"Not the point 'lover'."

'I seriously doubt a can of raid will effect you to much." Donnie made the mistake of interrupting.

"Shut it Donnie!" Cris snapped at him."

"Call 'em how I see 'em..." Raph told her. "You act like Mikey, you get Mikey slapped."

"You know what... fine." She dropped the bug. "You're Mr. big Billy bad ass. You win. I'm out! Find a new punching bag I'm done!"

Leo looked at Raph. "Seriously? You had to go there?"

Raph looked a little sheepish. "Was actually hopin' she'd fight back..."

Leo looks at him curiously. "Why?"

"Raph shrugged. "I'm horny..."

Leo facepalmed.

"Well I'm tired of getting slapped around by the one person who shouldn't lay a hand on me! Damn it Raph!" Cris flared. "I'm not Mikey! Or Leo or Donnie or the Foot damn it! I don't think it's funny or loving or a turn on! So stop it! I'm not turned on right now! I hurt by your actions you big ass!" She turned away from him so he couldn't see her tears and she began to walk away again.

Raph sighed as he caught up with her. "Hang on you. Look, I'm sorry. It's a reflex...I see stupid, I act out on it. Been living with Mikey too long. Want a couple free shots to make it even?"

"Uh ooh..." Leo mumbled. "I don't see this ending well."

"He never offers me a free chance to whoop his ass..." Mikey whined.

Raph narrowed his eyes as he looked at his brothers who were teasing his current mishap. "But yet it's ok for her to punch me in the nose just because I made her jump out of a plane..."

Leo just facepalmed again. "Not the same thing Raph."

Raph rolled his eyes at Leo this time before turning back to Cris. "I said I was sorry...you gonna quit the silent treatment?

"He offered you two free shots Cris! Take 'em before he changes his mind!" Mikey told her and Raph just glared at him.

I shook my head over it all. "You know...sometimes Raph is just as big of an idiot as Mikey is." I told Leo.

"You noticed."

"A few times actually."

Donnie just snickered.

Raph let out an angry growl in our direction. "All right damn it! I screwed up! I admit it!" He actually got down on both knees in front of her, taking her hands in his. "Look, I mean it...I'm sorry. What else you want me to do to prove that to you?"

We all looked at Cris, waiting for her answer. She looked into his eyes and her anger and hurt just melted away. "Just stop smacking me around. Ok? I love you more than anything in the world but it makes me feel like I'm not as important to you as I should be when you do shit like that, you know? And don't even start on the airplane thing you totally fucking deserved that."

Raph glared at Leo then. "How come I get smacked for your ideas?"

"Because you deserve it more than me." Leo grinned back at him.

"Speaking of which it was Leo's idea that I scare Mikey by acting like a zombie." Cris impishly informed Raph.

My dear wonderful lover looked a little sheepish himself all of a sudden, and got another glare from Raph.

"Oh boy..." I mumbled.

"YOU!" Raph roared. "You're the one that started this shit!?"

I facepalmed as Raph tackled Leo. "And there goes the furniture..."

Mikey grinned as he watched the other two roll around. "I'm just glad it's not me this time."

Cris sighed. "All that anger right there... I got a better way to release it than pounding on your brother." She tried to tell Raph...who wasn't listening.

"I think the wrong set of hormones are in control at the moment Cris." I told her before I yelled "Hey Raph! Cris wants her make up sex!"

Raph's fist stopped three inches shy of punching Leo in the beak.

"Come on big red, it's been a while since we played find the shuriken." She winked at him.

"Eeew..." I mumbled.

Raph got up in a hurry though, with a big cheesy grin on his face.

"Or naughty ninja." Cris grinned at him.

"EEW!" I said for a second time.

"My virgin ears!" Mikey exclaimed, covering his ear holes.

"I think its time to pull out the leathers." Cris kept going and Mikey's face paled a little.

Cris took Raph by the hand, and together they walked out of med-bay. They turned the corner and she looked at Leo, winked and mouthed "You're Welcome."

Leo winked back...right before I walked up to him and smacked him on the arm. "What were you thinking?"

He gave me this big childish grin. "Who said I was?" I just groaned and he laughed as he got up.

Sunny and Sides looked a little disappointed that the prank didn't go off as planned, but the show between Raph and Cris was worth the trouble I guess so they didn't complain. But as Cris and Raph disappeared, Sunny seemed a bit disgusted. "Primus! Do Organics ever stop fragging?"

Sides looks at his brother dumbfounded before turning his gaze back toward where the retreating love birds disappeared. He seemed lost in thought a moment before he blurted out "I wanna be an organic!"

Sunny just smacked him upside the head.

Sides glares at his brother but Sunny spoke first "Don't even bother complaining, dumbass, you're not a femme an I ain't your mech." And Sunny began to walk away

"Buuut suuunshiiine!" Sides wailed as he ran after his brother and we all lost it again.

"Don't call me that fragger!" And after they rounded the corner you heard another clang as Sunny hit him again.

"Well...that was interesting..." The until now quiet Hide said, shaking his head.

None of us could say anything, we were all laughing to hard.


	44. Chapter 44

If the door crashing open wouldn't have woken me up the next morning, Cris' screaming would have. "Vicky! Use your goddamn mind jedi shit with Leo and find those fucktards!" She hollered at the top of her lungs as I shot up from a dead sleep.

"What?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. It took me a minute to notice that Marina and Caitlin were with her, and all three looked pissed off to no end. As usual, Leo was already up and out of the room.

"Those idiots took our rings and now we can't find them!" Marina shouted next. Good lord...why was I the one getting yelled at? Well, I knew where mine was. Ratchet told me he'd have to keep it a bit so he could take his time separating the ring from his gadget. I didn't like it, but that's where it was.

"Why on earth would they do that?" I yawned. "You sure you didn't just misplace them?" I got three frosty glares as my answer. "Fine..." I sighed. _'Leo, where the fuck are you? Apparently the guys took something and I'm dealing with some very upset females over here.'_

_'I can see that.' _Came his chuckling reply._ 'We are outside with the kids. Why don't you come join us?'_

_'I'd rather go back to bed.'_

_'I'd rather you didn't.'_

I sighed again, there went sleeping in...

"Come on." I told the three rampaging women as I led them out of my room.

We navigated the hallways until we finally came to the door that opened closest to the playground and we stepped outside, and froze when we did, not quite sure what was going on here.

The field out there had been literally transformed (pun intended). There was a large awning set up about fifty feet out, decorated with light blue roses, white gardenias, soft pink ranunculus and white with purple outlined carnations, all of our favorite flowers. A green carpet ran from this door straight down to it. White covered chairs were placed in neat, orderly rows alongside the carpet. More flowers were strung up on the inside chairs that ran along the aisle. Pavilions were placed among the chairs to keep who ever was going to sit there out of the desert sun and there were troops running around with water hoses to moisten the dirt and sand all around to keep the slight breeze from blowing it everywhere.

Standing in front of us was a small gathering of folks I really didn't expect to see here, my parents, Jim, April and even Mandi were there along with Casey, Will, Epps, Sally and Tony, all of them dressed in their best clothes and all of them looking at our stunned expressions with wide grins. Autobots were standing around us as well, their plating polished until they shone brightly, reflecting the sunlight. Even the children were all dressed up, the boys in tuxes and the girls in matching white dresses with green trim.

None of that was what really caught my attention, or the attention of the others. Standing in front of my gaggle of family and friends were four very nervous looking turtles. Each of them wearing a modified tuxedo, of course each trimmed in their colors and brand new masks adorned their heads. They even had decent shoes on for Christ's sake. Where on earth did they find shoes big enough to fit those feet?

They lined up in front of us and walked towards us before stopping, dropping to their knee as one. Small, black boxes came out of pockets and they popped them open, again in sync, revealing our missing rings. Then they looked us in the eye and asked the same question, but I only heard Leo. "Vicky, dear one, will you marry me?" His hand shook as he held that box, even more so than when he did it the first time he asked. Then it was more of a promise ring scenario, both of us knowing we couldn't actually get married, but apparently something had changed.

My hand was shaking just about as bad as his was when I brought it to my mouth in shock. Cris was actually crying next to me and so was Caitlin. Even Marina, the ice queen who usually took it all in stride, was close to tears. I was seriously blinking back my own as my knees literally gave out on me. I knelt down in front of him and threw my arms around him as he caught me with his free hand. "Of course I will." I told him in a shaky voice. "But...h-how c-can we?" I was rapidly losing my composure here. Somebody give me a damn kleenex before I snot all over his tux...

That's when Prime moved in. He smiled gently down at us a moment before he spoke. "As a Prime I am not only the legally sitting leader of Cybertron, but its spiritual leader as well. I do believe I am more than qualified to perform the ceremony."

"Ya'll be wed under Cybertronian law." Jazz added as he walked up "So at least in _one_ civilization it'll be ah legal union."

I looked from Jazz, to Prime, to Leo, then to the others who wore just as dumbstruck faces as I did. "But...but you guys don't do weddings like we do here..." Cris told Jazz. "H-how...can it be..."

"Because Prime wishes it that way." Hide rumbled. "Just shut up and deal with the fact that you are getting married. Today." Then he grinned and winked at us.

"I don't even have a dress." I whispered, near tears again. "You are all done up so wonderful...and I'm out here in my damn pajamas."

"It's been taken care of, dear one." Leo told me gently, wiping my tears away as they fell. "Go back to our room, it will be waiting for you."

Needless to say my dad had to help me walk back to my room, I was a mess. He opened the door for me to the room and I walked in and my eyes right away found the dress that hadn't been lying on the bed before. I don't know how I managed to get to the bed to pick it up and look at it, and I began to tear up all over again...

Ever since Leo had first given me that ring, I had always dreamed about something like this happening, but had never actually hoped for it knowing it was pretty much impossible. That didn't mean I didn't fantasise about the perfect dress. And now it was right here in front of me. It wasn't any particular design, more like a collection of things I've looked at over the years and kinda just thrown into one dress. It was an off the shoulder style with lace sleeves reaching to the elbow in a flare out cut. The corset part ended at the bottom in a blue ribbon sash that curved over the hips and met in the front in a V. The floor length skirt part flared out slightly under that sash, not in a big bell but just enough to keep it from hugging my thighs and had a short train in the back. It was just a simple dress, no beadwork or anything fancy on it really, but it was perfect for me. Next to it sat a simple tiara decorated with sapphires and on the floor were a pair of simple white pumps. It matched what I had seen in my head so many times perfectly, Leo had to of had a hand in this. A fact which was confirmed by the small note I found lying on top of it.

_'Vicky,_

_I hope this dress is pretty close to how you've always wanted it to be. It hurt watching you dream about this dress, with the thought that you'd never be able to wear it. Now, at last, I can make this dream come true for you, just as you've made so many of mine possible._

_I love you,_

_Leo'_

I lost it. God I am such a sap...

I was trying to get my crying under control when Mandi walked quietly in the room. "You going to be able to make it?" She smiled at me. "Or am I going to have to go out there and tell them all to postpone it until tomorrow?"

I looked at my friend who had pretty much always been there for me, even before the turtles came into my life. She accepted them pretty quick, but didn't really get involved with the whole 'let's go save New York fifty times a month!' aspect of it. She was quite content to leave the adventuring part to me. For one, her husband and children didn't know about the guys, and for another 'I'm not stupid enough to try that crap'. But she had always been there, waiting quietly in the background for things to settle down when they got hectic. She knew just because things got hectic didn't mean I would forget she was there. She was like an aunt to my kids, and like a sister to me. I was more than thrilled to have her here.

I couldn't even bring myself to talk to her as I struggled to get myself under control. She just smiled again and walked up to me. "Come on, I'll help you." She said as she picked the dress up.

Mandi helped me into the dress, then sat me down and did my hair. Again in a simple style but one that fit me perfectly. Front half swept up out of my face and secured in the back of my head with a jeweled clip she had brought with her. Then she set to work curling my long mess. Don't ask me how she got those curls to stay, but she did. Then she carefully set the sapphire studded tiara in it. After that I had to endure the makeup, she insisted on doing my makeup. Threatened to beat the crap out of me if I didn't let her. When she was done she pulled the towel away she had used to protect the dress and tossed it on the bed before reaching into her purse. "Your Mom thought you might want these." She handed me a flat jewelry box. Again my hands shook as I took the very familiar item from her and opened it. Nestled inside was a pair of earrings and a necklace that I had held onto for years. Just something I had bought for myself years ago when I found the pieces, bought them on a hunch actually. I never splurge shop like that, but that one time, I did. I carefully took out the diamond encircled sapphire earrings and matching pendant. Their blue sparkle perfectly matching the ones in the tiara, and my ring.

I put them on and stood up, slipping into my shoes and Mandi handed me my bouquet, the same light blue roses that was part of the decoration out front. "You want to take a look?" Mandi asked me, holding out a mirror.

I shook my head. "No...I...I don't want him to see me yet." I told her and she just smiled and nodded before putting it away. She knew just like the rest did that Leo floats around in my head.

It was late morning by now when we stepped out into the hallway to wait for the others. Cris was already there and she looked stunning. She wore a long sleeved white satin modified Queen Anne style dress that hugged her hips and thighs before it widened back out into a medium length train. Red silk filigree was woven into the fabric on one side in a tribal pattern with Raph's tattoo patterns mixed in. The bodice plunged enticingly in a V neckline while still remaining demure. The collar came up into a choker from behind with a trifecta of red and green gems inset in the middle. Her hair was curled loosely and piled high and a tiara inset with diamonds sparkled in front of those curls. The back of the gown had three strategic slits cut lengthwise, perpendicular that ended at her lower back. She wore a pair of diamond earrings I knew her mother had given her and a bouquet of white gardenias wrapped in red ribbon was in her hands.

Caitlin came out next in a simple, sleek dress that reached the floor and no train. She also had long sleeves, but hers was lace from the shoulder down. Her blonde hair was caught in a simple, loose ponytail at the nape of her neck with a jeweled clip and she held pale pink ranunculus in her hands. She stepped shyly out of her room and was seriously blushing. "I'm not used to all of this." She said quietly to us.

I smiled at her. "You're not supposed to be used to it, Cait. This is supposed to only be a one time deal."

Cris winked at her. "Not like we go out and get married every weekend you know."

She just blushed some more, but didn't say anything else.

Marina emerged then wearing a strapless gown. Her's had a slight flare to it like mine did, but a slit went down the front of her skirt starting at the knees and a light purple sash was slung around her waist, the ends of it trailing down her side. Her jet black hair was down and loosely curled. She held a cluster of white carnations with purple around the edges.

"You ladies look wonderful." Dad said as he walked up with Jim and Casey. "Everything is ready out there, just waiting on the brides."

"The way it should be." Mandi smiled.

"Well, come on then." Dad held his arm out to me, and I took it. The other three didn't look to certain then, until dad held his other arm out to Cris. "You didn't think we would let you walk down that aisle without an escort did you?" Jim stepped up to take Caitlin's arm and Casey took Marina's.

Mandi walked ahead of us to let them know we were on they way and I walked beside my father on shaky legs again. "Please don't let me fall on my face." I told my dad.

"Wouldn't dream of if it." He calmly replied.

We arrived at the door, and waited as everything began. I could catch glimpses of the guys standing out there, waiting, around all of the heads that were clustered at the door. Will and Epps were up there with them, trying to keep them from running away probably. They looked very nervous.

The slightly different than normal routine began as all of our close female friends began dragging their counterparts down the aisle and the pairings in themself were hilarious. First Hide, in his holoform of course, didn't want the Bots stepping all over everything after all, walked with Chromia and they were bickering before they even took the first steps. Sunny and Sides followed next with April and Mandi. Sides didn't mind walking with April so much, but Mandi was trying really hard not to laugh at Sunny who tried not to cringe away from the 'disgusting organic'. I was honestly starting to wonder at this point if he was just doing it out of habit. Jazz and Arcee went next, both of them trying not to laugh at the pair before them, then Bee and Elita closed out that round.

Then came the children. Dennis accompanied Ty, Thane and Dante down the isle, the eldest making sure the younger ones didn't lose the rings on the way down. Ari and Lavi came next, with Amy in between them. The flowers were supposed to make it to the ground, but somehow kept getting thrown all over the place. At least Amy kept them moving in the right direction.

Then it was our turn. My legs shaking wildly now we stepped outside. Dad led the way with Cris and I and Jim and Casey guided the other two right behind us. I didn't hear the music that played. I couldn't tell you if it was 'Here comes the Bride' or 'Yankee Doodle.' Even my nervousness was gone. The only thing I noticed was Leo standing at the other end as we slowly made our way closer. I watched his eyes widen, then tear up as we walked. Mikey's mouth was actually hanging open before he snapped it shut. Donnie was swallowing hard and Raph was the same teary eyes mess Leo was...though if you'd try and tell him that he'd deny it.

We stopped in front of them and my dad probably broke every tradition in the book right about then. "Boys, Ima hand these girls off to you now. You better take care of 'em or I'll knock your heads together. Got it?"

Four nods was the only reply he got as we stepped next to them. Leo looked down at me, his eyes moist still. "You look so beautiful." He whispered. I looked up at him and smiled through trembling lips. God, I was about to cry again...

Once everyone settled into place, Prime, who was the only Bot up here _not_ in holoform, began. He said something in Cybertronian, which Hide quietly translated for us. "Blessings!"

Everyone repeated it, though I'm pretty sure I messed the pronunciation of it up.

"Be seated." And everyone who could fit in a chair did. The Bots just stood around the seated guests, their brightly shining armour still reflecting the morning sun.

"This light cycle we have been invited to celebrate the joining of the life-cycles of these four, blessed pairs." Not quite the opening speech I expected, but this was an earthified Cybertronian ceremony. Didn't think there was any set way to do this.

"You have chosen to come before us this light cycle of your own volition?"

"I have." We all responded, again quietly prompted by our Bot friends.

"Do you each vow to accept the other into the entirety of your life-cycles?"

"I do." We all chimed again.

"In the tradition of this culture, it is customary to exchange tokens of mutual affection and give voice to their spark." Crap! I didn't have anything to give him! I was about to panic when Hide reached over and quietly placed something in my hand. I noticed the others also being handed items from the Bots.

"Leonardo?"

Leo swallowed hard as he took up the ring, his hands still shaking. "I vow, here and now, to always love you, cherish you and to stay by your side. I vow to be the best father I can be, to protect and guide all of you. To always be there for you. This day I officially give you my heart, a heart that has been yours from the beginning." Lord...was he trying to make me cry? Well, he succeeded. A tear fell down my cheek as he slipped the ring back on my finger. I took a quick moment to look down at it. It was the same ring, but it had been modified a bit. Instead of one band of diamond and sapphires, there were now two and they wrapped tightly around each other. Combined into one, just like Leo and I were inseparable. Another tear dropped as I looked at it in awe.

"Vicky?"

I held up what Hide had sneaked to me, a band. It was made of the same material as my ring, it's own sapphires and diamonds glittered back at me as I looked down at it, the leaf/vine pattern that ran along it complimented my own ring. It was a perfect match to the ring I wore. It had a clasp on one side and a hinge on the other and it was thin enough to be hidden under his gear. I smiled at Hide before turning back to Leo. "I don't have much. Just a simple heart that wants to be loved. And it chose you. I will always stand by you, support you and love you." I placed the band around his wrist and snapped it closed. "It's all I've ever wanted to do, and I will keep doing it." I heard Mikey blow his nose...loudly. Not even that could ruin the moment as I looked into Leo's eyes, his own tear finally falling. I guess we were both emotional saps...

I then watched quietly as the others exchanged their rings, bands and vows. And every single set brought me to tears all over again. I quickly noticed that the other bands had been made to match the rings each bride wore and my eyes started that damn flood again at the thoughtfulness of the Bots who came up with them. I assumed it was the Bots anyway. Wasn't quite sure. I felt a slight squeeze on my hand and looked up at Leo and he nodded his confirmation that my guess had been right.

"Raphael?"

"I...uh..." He cleared his throat. "Cris, I'm a simple turtle that is way better at bashing heads than expressing my feelings." He paused to clear his throat again. "I make this pledge to you today. Forever I will hold you dear to me. You will always be my calm eye in any storm that brews over me. The one sane thing in my world of insanity. My heart is battered, more than a little stubborn, hotheaded and full of fire that you seem to be the only one to be able to tame. It's not perfect, far from it, but it's yours and always will be." Then he added a last little bit that only we up here could really hear. "And I'll kick anyone's ass that tries to do anything to hurt you." Leo's hand wasn't the only one trembling today I noticed as he slipped the ring back on her finger.

"Cris?"

"I pledge to you to be your loving friend and partner in marriage. To talk and to listen, to trust and appreciate you; to respect and cherish your uniqueness; and to support, comfort, and strengthen you through life's joys and sorrows. May our lives be ever intertwined, our love keep us together. May we build a home that is compassionate to all, full of respect and honour for others as well as each other. And may our home be forever filled with peace, happiness, and love. I join my life with yours Raphael. Wherever you go, I will go; whatever you face, I will face. For good or ill, in happiness or sadness, come riches or poverty, I take you as my husband, and will give myself unto no other, so long as I live. You are my Mate, my Home, my Love." Good lord...how long had she been quietly practicing those without us knowing? Was way nicer than my on the spot, surprised, jumbled mess. Show off... She blinked back her own tears as she quietly snapped the band around his wrist.

"Donatello?"

"I'm a nerd. Always trying to find out how everything works. I've spent many late nights trying to puzzle things out, take them apart and put them back together. But until I met you I never could fix the loneliness I felt inside. You were what I needed to be whole. I fought for you, I believed in you, even when you didn't. And I always will. You will forever be a mystery to me on how I fell for you, but I'll happily spend the rest of my life with you trying to solve that puzzle." His hands were actually steady as he slipped Marina's ring on.

"Marina?"

"I first met you with hatred in my heart." She began quietly. "Yet you didn't back down from it. You met it head on, fought it and tried your best to chip it away. I'm not sure if it was that stubbornness that won me over, or something else I can't even explain. All I can tell you for sure is, that hate has since turned to love, and it's all for you and it always will be." She was just as composed as he was as his band snapped on...dang it, they were making me look like a sobbing loon over here.

"Michelangelo?"

"They always tell me that I'm just a big kid. Never take anything serious. But I do. You, Caitlin. You are the one thing that brings out the side of me that wants to be more than just an overgrown child. You've shown me that there are other things to love besides endless pranks and jokes, and yes even pizza." We all chuckled on that one. "I love you and Ari with everything I can love with, Kit Kat. And I will keep doing so until the big arcade in the sky calls me home." He actually dropped the ring, caught it with the other hand, dropped it again then caught it before it finally made it onto Caitlin's finger. We didn't laugh at him, but I couldn't help the gentle smile. Even happy go lucky Mikey was seriously nervous.

"Caitlin?"

We all had to strain to hear the quiet woman as she spoke. And her shyness forced her to keep it short and to the point. "I love you and I always will." Then she reached out, her hands trembling violently to the point that she almost dropped it, but managed to get it around his wrist before we had a Mikey repeat.

Optimus then removed the Matrix of Leadership and held it up in front of us. Once again I was filled with awe as I looked upon it. You could _not_ feel that way about it. "I am the Honored Prime of Cybertron, the holder of the holy Matrix of Leadership and proxy of the Creator, Primus. It has been my pleasure and true honor to witness the exchange of vows and statements of devotion of these beings before us. We hereby invoke the blessings of the Creator for a long and joyus combining and ask the newly bonded to affirm their intent with an offering of unified action before the Holy Relic."

"In other words, the grooms may kiss their brides." Hide mumbled to us. I looked up into those blues eyes again as Leo brought his head down. That was the sweetest kiss I had ever gotten from him and the tears freely fell down my face now, I didn't even try and stop them anymore. Good thing Mandi used waterproof makeup or I'd be a smeared mess.

As we all kissed, the matrix then sent out a gentle, but visible, energy wave to encompass us. And this may sound corny, but I actually_ felt_ it's approval of our unions. After the kiss I found myself looking back at it, still awestruck, before Optimus tucked it away again.

"They are bonded!"

The witnesses all repeated the Cybertronian word for "Blessings" and we turned and walked back down the aisle. Then the party started.

It was pretty obvious to me that not all of the details had been hammered out here shortly after Leo and I walked into the large hangar that was going to serve as the reception hall. The only hangar that was big enough to fit everyone, and everybot.

The first clue was Jazz and Blaster arguing on who was going to be the DJ. That went on for a few minutes until Bee stomped over and put the first dance song on. Soon Keith Urban's "Your Everything" filled the building and Leo led me out onto the dance floor.

I looked up into his eyes as we stepped across the floor, once again fighting back tears. "Thank you." I finally told him, my voice breaking.

"Your welcome, Vicky." He replied, pulling me even closer to him. "But I can't take all of the credit."

"Oh?"

"Jazz was actually the one who came up with the idea." He smiled down at me. "And I'm so glad he did. Your happiness was more than worth it."

"How in the world did you pull this all off? My family, the decorations, the clothes...that must have taken a lot of effort."

"Not so much when you have the whole base working on it. And you remember the large crate Donnie brought back?" I nodded. "That's where we stashed your family before they got off of the plane so you wouldn't see them, then we just hid them away in the barracks on the far side of the base."

"Oh Leo..." I put my head on his chest as we kept dancing.

"Anything for my Dear Heart." He said quietly. "I wanted everything to be perfect for you. After everything you all have been through, you deserved it." He bought his hand under my chin and lifted my face back up to look at him, then brought his lips to mine in a gentle kiss.

The rest of the odd celebration was filled with the usual antics and laughter you would associate with this goofy bunch. Wheeljack came in and released some mechanical doves, that all malfunctioned at the same time and began dropping onto various guests.

Since no one was really assigned to be the best man, an argument broke out on who was going to give the best man's toast. Sunny and Sides were getting quite vocal about it until Hide shut them up by stomping his now in bot form foot, then said. "They are good fighters, good allies and annoying as all get out. But they are all bonded and happy. And if you don't like it, come talk to me and we will discuss this somewhere private." And that took care of that...

Dad took turns dancing with all of us for the father/daughter dance and I had to twirl along the floor with each of the other turtles as well. Not to mention the kids all wanted their turns and various Bots, Will, Epps, Casey... I danced with them all. Then to my surprise, Hide's holoform came over, pulled me out of Leo's arms and almost drug me to the dancefloor. We danced quietly at first, mainly because I was shocked that he was even out here dancing with me. His steps were steady and sure however, and we easily glided past others. "It's nice to see that you and your friends so happy, Vicky." He told me with a gentle smile. "I'm glad for all of you that we were able to do this."

"Thank you, Ironhide, for everything."

"No, I should thank you. I must admit the time spent with all of you was actually very enjoyable. Reminded me of times before the war, and the way things should be, not what they are now."

"Maybe one day things will get better for you."

"Maybe. I still hold onto some hope for that to happen." He grinned at me then. "I'm to stubborn to give it up."

I laughed.

Cris looked like she had been crying more than a little herself today as she passed us on the floor, dancing easily in Sides' arms. "Well, squishy, seems like you are stuck with that hardheaded, hot tempered, annoying retile." He grinned at her. "Lost your chance now to hook up with me."

"Jealous?" She grinned back at him.

"A little." He admitted honestly. "But I do have to admit you two are perfect for each other. And you made one heck of a cute kid."

"Tell you what, if I ever get tired of him, I'll look you up." Side's laughed. A laugh that was cut short when she quickly kissed him on the cheek. "You and Sunny will always be my favorite Autobots though."

Didn't get to hear what Sides was going to say to that though, because Sunny cut in. "My turn." He said shortly.

"But Sunny!"

"I said it's my turn! You've had her for three dances now!" He practically yanked Cris out of Sides' arms, then glared at his brother. Sides walked away muttering under his breath. "Congratulations." He then quietly said to Cris.

"Thank you Sunny."

He just shrugged. "I just hope you are happy with that bumbling buffoon."

"And why would you hope that?" She slyly asked the surly twin.

He looked a little sheepish for a moment. "Because I like you." He finally mumbled out.

She smiled at him, then quickly planted a kiss on his cheek too. His eyes grew wide, then he had a goofy grin on his face. Then he quickly put his normal scowl back onto his face before anyone would notice.

There was a point where Mikey accidentally on purpose dumped some champagne on Raph, and he chased Mikey with the bottle, trying to hit him with it. Until Ratchet told them both to knock it off or he would smack them with a wrench.

Then came the bouquet toss. That one was interesting considering the lack of females and the large percentage of flowers being thrown. Chromia actually caught Cris' and she turned and gave Hide a wide grin, he just rolled his eyes.

It was when the celebration was starting to wind down when Sunny and Sides came in, carrying what looked like a covered painting. We all curiously walked over to them to see what they had brought. "A bonding gift from us to you." Sides grinned at Raph. "Sunny painted it and I made the frame." Then he pulled the cover off of it. It was breathtakingly realistic and I was awed at the fine details of it, it was like someone took a picture and just placed it onto the canvas. It did however send us all into a laughing fit. Pictured in perfect detail for all of us to cherish for eternity, was a painting of Raph in the prank gone wrong bug pit, complete with a roach frame. Sunny had captured Raph's disgusted face perfectly and it almost seemed to move as he tried to slap the bugs off. I had tears rolling down my face by the time I got control of myself.

It was the last dance of the afternoon now turning evening and I was once again in Leo's arms as we made our way across the floor. It had been a long day and I was tired from all the dancing, laughing and everything else. My feet hurt, the dress was getting hot and I was sure my hair didn't look as pretty as it did earlier, but I was right where I wanted to be. Held in Leo's strong arms with the other members of my family dancing around us, each couple showing their own happiness on their faces. He had his arms wrapped around my waist as I again leaned my head on his chest, stepping slowly to the soothing song playing. I closed my eyes and let Leo guide me. "Tired?" He asked me and I nodded.

"A little." I admitted to him. "But I don't want this to end either."

"We could ask Sunny to paint you some memories of this I suppose...the not so discriminating moments anyway."

I laughed. "You know he would find the most embarrassing thing to paint. He'd do that just for the fun of it."

"I think you might be right about that." He said wryly.

We danced for a few moments quietly before I lifted my head up again, and for the last time here on this floor looked deep into his eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too." His hand carefully cupped my face before his head came down again. The kiss he gave me was deep and gentle, accompanied by his presence flooding my mind with his love. I had never been happier than I was at that moment. "I love you so much." His thumb ran across my cheek. Yup, there went the water works again.

The song ended and that's when Will and Epps walked over. "This is the part where we would normally send you guys to Hawaii for a two week honeymoon, but we all know that isn't going to happen." Will smiled. "But we will do you guys the favor of watching the kids. Get out of here and enjoy some privacy as wedded couples." His thumb pointed to the door.

Leo then got that mischievous look on his face, accompanied by a half smile. Before I could let out a squeak of protest, he scooped me up into his arms bridal style and headed out towards the door. I laughed and just wrapped my arms around his neck. The others were getting the same treatment I noticed, Mikey even went to far as to sling Caitlin over his shoulder. "Put me down you goose!" She laughed. He grinned and swung her around to where he was also carrying her bridal style.

We left the hanger, another adventure starting as soon as we stepped foot outside, the adventure of marriage. We paused a moment to look at the setting sun as it slipped behind the horizon. As the orange ball of fire put it's past behind it, getting ready for a new day, so did we. When I was so rudely woken up this morning, which seemed like ages ago now, I had never dreamed that the day would end this way. And the beautiful sunset just seemed the perfect end to an unexpected perfect day. I marveled at the pure, simple beauty of it. It was so full of promise of better things to come. I leaned against Leo as he walked across the compound, resting my head onto his shoulder and his arms curled tighter around me. I completely surrendered myself to his gentle grip, just like I always did and always will. The only difference was, now they were the arms of my husband. It might not count here on earth, but it did on Cybertron and that's all I would ever need.

***Author's note: I give credit where it is due. I would like to personally thank LGTracy for this wonderful idea and the ideas on how to make this happen. The ceremony set up was her idea as well as Prime's reasoning for being able to do it. I have quoted the suggestions almost verbatim, adding my own tweaks to it here and there.**

**That being said, here ends this tale. I hope everyone enjoyed this unusual ride, because I was having a blast writing it. I still have more stories planned but I'm not sure if I will do another full blown crossover again at this time...but you never know...I might come up with something...**

**Thank you everyone for reading.**


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